Wigston FC 2–3 Wednesbury Athletic: a collapse in thirteen minutes

Match report

The home side had the early rhythm. Sieverding curled a free kick over the wall on 11 minutes, the sort of dead-ball strike that makes you wonder why anyone bothers with the wall at all. Penn doubled it on 26, a header from Crialese's cross that seemed to sum up a Wigston side feeling rather good about themselves.

And then the confidence curdled. Look, I reckon they just panicked. Bergsma-Veen pulled one back on 34 after Lecuona's pass split the back line, and suddenly Wigston were playing with the urgency of a side who remembered they had a lead to protect. Lecuona then stepped up to take the penalty himself on 39, scored it, and by half-time the scoreboard read 2-2 while the home crowd tried to work out what on earth had just happened.

For a while it looked like Wednesbury's long-running habit of drawing everything might get another airing. They had been the league's foremost collectors of single points, a team allergic to finality. So here's the thing: Beşer had other ideas. On 77 minutes he collected Albertshofer's pass, took a touch, and finished low. No drama, no fuss, just the kind of goal that quietly ends a fixture.

Wigston will point at those thirteen minutes before the interval and wonder where their composure went. Wednesbury will point at the table and note, accurately, that they are now 11th on 24 points while Wigston sit three behind. The margins are slender and the league does not pause for reflection.

Both sides are back out tomorrow for Matchday 18. Wigston will need to rediscover the shape they had at 2-0 up, and quickly. Wednesbury, having finally done something other than draw, might just remember what winning feels like.