Latics U21s bowed out of the LFA Senior Cup following a defeat to Accrington Stanley at Christopher Park.
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U21s Match Report | Latics 1 Accrington 2
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A late Finn O’Boyle strike wasn’t enough for Latics after earlier goals from Josh Woods and Anjola Popoola for Accrington.
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The U21s side will now focus on the league and Sheffield United next Tuesday.
Latics U21s 1
Finn O’Boyle 88’
Accrington Stanley U21s 2
Josh Woods 29’
Anjola Popoola 73’
Latics U21s bowed out of the Lancashire FA Senior Cup at Christopher Park despite Finn O'Boyle's late strike to halve the deficit after earlier goals from Accrington Stanley's Josh Woods & Anjola Popoola.
The young Latics seemed down and out late on after Woods & Popoola gave the visitors a two-goal advantage in the tie before O’Boyle’s late effort made affairs interesting with injury time still to play - however, the visitors saw the game out after the Latics' late flurry.
Chris Brown opted for a strong side at CP, with Tyrese Francois gaining valuable minutes after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, whilst Harry McHugh and Kai Payne also gained valuable minutes.
It was a confident start by the senior Latics academy side, who were popping it around with belief and purpose, which presented the first opportunity of the game for the hosts when Oscar Harris found a yard of space on the edge before firing a low effort towards the far corner and past the post.
Accrington continued to struggle for possession as the game approached the 20-minute mark, with the young Tics continuing to probe without any real decisive actions in the final third.
It was the away side who provoked the first save out of either keeper, though, when Yasin Al-Abbas played in Popoola, who, with a first-time effort, forced a strong parry out of Matty Corran in the Wigan goal.
That chance warned Latics of the threat that the visitors posed, which Accrington took full advantage of and grabbed the game's opening goal when the ball found its way out to Lewis Trickett on the right, who flighted a delightful cross towards Woods for a simple strike into the back of the net.
Positive play from Latics after the break would have pleased manager Chris Brown, with McHugh and O’Boyle linking up, eventually saw the latter square to Kai Payne, who, after taking a touch, saw his drilled effort at goal saved by the foot of Rogerson.
It became a cagey affair in the second, and though the young Tics had the majority of the ball, they couldn’t find a way through, and the visitors made them pay when following a set piece, Popoola managed to muscle his way towards the ball and nudge home Accrington’s second with just over 15 minutes to play.
Play had seemed to peter out in the final minutes before Latics finally punched past Rogerson in the away goal. The hosts retained possession on the edge before Payne found Miller on the left. He whipped in an inviting cross toward O’Boyle, who found the bottom corner to pull a goal back with two minutes left on the clock.