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Simon Haworth gave The Latics a 4th minute lead, heading home after Carl Bradshaw had centered. However, Parkin stunned the locals with a cool strike four minutes into the second-half to knock the promotion chasers off their stride. Wycombe had few chances themselves but it looked like they had done enough to earn a point before Roberts popped up to score the winner with just five minutes left on the clock. The talking point for Wycombe fans before the game was the sight of Dannie Bulman sitting on the bench as Lawrie Sanchez re-shuffled his troops to accommodate the return of Chris Vinnicombe, Michael Simpson and Sam Parkin. Vinnicombe, returning after six weeks out through injury, had to deal with ex-Newcastle striker Keith Gillespie currently on loan to The Latics from Blackburn Rovers. It was Gillespie who caused all sorts of problems for Wycombe as Wigan concentrated their efforts down their right wing. It was from this side that Haworth celebrated his return to the Wigan First Team after a lengthy lay-off through injury. Vinnicombe had forced the ball out for a thrown-in after good work from Gillespie but The Latics delivered a quick throw that was centered by Bradshaw, knocked on by Andy Liddell and Haworth was at the far post grateful to score his 7th League goal of the season. It was a minute after Wigan had taken the lead that Jermaine McSporran was clattered from behind. Jocky returned to the action after treatment from physio Dave Jones but he was clearly impeded by the injury and was replaced at the half-time break by Danny Senda. It was, however, McSporran who created Wycombe's best chance of the first half. On 19 minutes he weaved through from midfield before unselfishly pushing the ball left to Parkin, only for the Chelsea loan player to shoot straight at Roy Carroll in the Wigan goal. The home side, with a wealth of expensive talent in their side, continued to look dangerous on the break but Taylor's goal was well protected by the efficient partnership of Paul McCarthy and Jamie Bates. Half-time Wigan 1 Wycombe 0 Stefan Bidstrup should have made the score 2-0 three minutes into the second-half but he shot straight at Taylor from less than 12 yards after Liddell's shot has been blocked. Less than a minute later a mistake by Arjan DeZeeuw allowed Parkin space on the right and he made up for his earlier miss by curling a shot perfectly inside the far post. Parkin's equaliser put a different complexion on a game that at times looked to be slipping away from The Wanderers. Senda nearly managed to latch onto a long clearance from Taylor on 53 minutes but there was a further injury set-back for Wycombe when Bates limped off to be replaced by Jason Cousins. Before this game Wigan had only dropped two points at home during the season and with the scores still level frustration set into the home side's play. A 77th minute lunge on Vinnicombe by Haworth had the Wycombe players congregating around referee Steve Baines as the game threatened to boil over. Lawrie Sanchez also appeared to be cautioned by the match official as he let his feelings known on Haworth's tackle. The Wigan player ended up with a yellow card but there would have been few complaints if had been a straight red. Even more frustaring for Wycombe was the fact that Haworth had punched the ball into the Wycombe net early in the second-half but got away unpunished. Two minutes after Haworth's challenge on Vinnicombe, DeZeeuw took out Senda off the ball but Baines was clever enough on this occasion to pull play back and show another yellow card. Wigan boss Bruce Rioch made what was to be a crucial decision on 80 minutes when he replaced Haworth with Roberts. With five minutes left The Latics worked the ball down the right again, allowing Bradshaw to send a high ball to the far side of the Wycombe penalty area where unmarked substitute Roberts looped a shot over Martin Taylor and into the far corner of the net. It was a very disappointing end and Wycombe can count themselves unlucky to lose at the JJB Stadium by 2 goals to 1 for the third consecutive time. It was never going to be easy but against a side boasting several £100,000 plus players and a loan player valued at more than the entire Wycombe side, it was money that had the final say. Full-time Wigan 2 Wycombe 1
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