Ashton's hat-trick heroics grab glory
Wigan Athletic 2 Crewe Alexandra 3
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Your support makes all the difference.Ambitious Wigan ran themselves into the ground in search of a victory after a red card for captain Jason de Vos left them to play for 65 minutes with 10 men.
But they suffered the body blow of failing to win even the minimum reward their efforts deserved as Crewe's Dean Ashton pounced in stoppage time to complete a match-winning hat-trick.
Two goals as well as a man down when De Vos was dismissed, Paul Jewell's side needed only 10 minutes to get back on level terms and had enough possession to win as Crewe struggled to make their extra man count. But just as it seemed both teams would happily settle for a share of the spoils, Ashton added to his two first-half penalties to stun the home crowd.
After eight matches unbeaten, Wigan had been in the mood to add credibility to their promotion challenge, although a disappointing crowd of less than 9,000 in their 25,000-seat stadium suggested the local population remains oddly indifferent towards the club's Premiership dreams.
Having climbed back to third place in a division they have already led three times, they were favourites to complete the double over Dario Gradi's side. It was a task that looked beyond them, however, when Crewe won and converted two penalties in the space of six minutes, the second resulting in the red card for De Vos.
Jewell had no complaints when Jon Breckin conceded the first, bringing down Ashton, who sent John Filan the wrong way with his kick. Nor did the Wigan manager dispute the validity of the second, although it took a linesman to spot the shirt-pull by De Vos that impeded Steve Jones.
Referee Alan Kaye waved play on as Jones appealed but spotted his assistant's raised flag and changed his mind. Given that Jones would have been clean through, the referee's next action, inevitably, was to produce the red card. Ashton, meanwhile, kept his composure to beat Filan a second time in identical fashion.
Wigan's response was impressive. Within 10 minutes they had replied twice as Crewe's defence was found wanting. Lee McCulloch, recalled in place of the suspended Jason Roberts, was the beneficiary each time, shrugging off the attentions of three defenders to shoot left-footed past Clayton Ince from 10 yards on the 30-minute mark, then diving to head home Jimmy Bullard's left-flank free- kick five minutes later.
Thereafter, although clear chances were few at either end, a Wigan victory always looked more likely. But two minutes into stoppage time a superb diagonal pass from Kenny Lunt found Ashton in space on the left and the Crewe centre-forward beat Filan with a left-footed shot to steal an unexpected outcome.
Wigan Athletic 2
McCulloch 30, 36
Crewe Alexandra 3
Ashton pen 20, pen 26, 90
Half-time 2-2 Attendance: 8,367
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