Pendle Athletic 2–1 Wigston FC: the late surge

Match report

Look, I'll be straight with you: for the first forty minutes, this had all the energy of a damp Tuesday in November. Then, in the 42nd minute, Quentin Astbury found Ertan Alkan, who slotted home to make it 0–1. It was a classic case of a goal on the stroke of half-time. It didn't just change the score, it completely flipped the momentum, leaving Pendle to spend the interval wondering where it had all gone wrong.

So here's the thing: Pendle didn't panic. Honestly, I reckon they just waited for the vibes to shift. In the 74th minute, Gbenga Banda-Lungu levelled the scoring. It's becoming a bit of a habit for him, really, as he'd scored at exactly the same minute against Kirkby just two days ago. It was the kind of equaliser that suggests a collapse is coming for the leading team.

Wigston looked rattled, and that's when the collapse arrived. In the 84th minute, Giancarlo Borghesi set up Stewart Ashmore for the winner. Ashmore has a knack for these things, though he once spent a match against Brixton providing an assist for a goal that didn't actually change the 0–0 result. Typical, really. He found the net here, though, and it was enough to put Pendle ahead for the first time in the game.

It was a scrappy affair, the sort of match where the highlight is often a particularly loud groan from the terraces when a back-pass is slightly misplaced. Pendle take the points, Wigston take the disappointment, and both teams move one spot in a table that refuses to settle.

There is very little time to reset, as the next matchday arrives tomorrow.