It was a case of patience is a virtue last Saturday as the Latics had to overcome a nine man Plymouth Argyle team who fought with distinction before succumbing to two late killer punches. With both Bondz N'Gala and Kari Arnason being sent off in the first half the home side almost threw it away by giving the visitors two goals from defensive mistakes.
Manager Paul Dickov was unhappy and commented, "I thought we deserved our win. I am delighted and also angry. The only threat they were to us was from the long ball and we warned them at half time they would change their system and play with only one up front. We told three players to deal with the one man and they didn't do that and shot ourselves in the foot. On the flip side, we kept going and didn't let our heads go down and we created chance after chance after chance. It looked as though it was going to be one of those games when the ball didn't drop for us, but there is a lot of character in the dressing room. The pleasing thing for me was the patience and the desire to keep going and to win to the game as there was a lot of pressure on us playing against nine men."
Dale Stephens scored the first goal in the fourth minute after the first sending off from the penalty spot. It was his second successful penalty of the season and his fourth goal but then the Latics pushed the self destruct button by allowing Argyle to take a 2-1 lead after the half. Tounkara scored his third goal of the season and levelled the score midway through the second half with a header after a Morais cross. The Latics played the majority of the second half with a 2-4-4 formation to try to break down Plymouth's stubborn defending and, to their credit, they kept plugging away and were rewarded in stoppage time.
M'voto scored his first goal for the club to put Latics back in front and then Kelly also scored his first goal with a diving header following a cross from Taylor. It was a shame for Plymouth who had played heroically but it was nice to get the three points that the Latics' perseverence had deserved. For once, the fans went home with smiles on their faces.