Fleetwood Town played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Wigan Athletic in the EFL Trophy Northern Group D, with the home side taking the extra point after the penalty shootout went to sudden death in Lancashire.
Three second-half goals from the home side – scored by Stephen Humphrys, Josh Stones, and Tom Pearce, cancelled out Kabongo Tshimanga’s first-half brace, but that wasn’t it for the action as Josh Earl scored late on to take the tie to penalties, which Wigan won on the night.
The deadlock somehow wasn’t broken early on, after the Cod Army hit the woodwork twice in quick succession. First Scott Robertson cannoned a sweet strike onto the crossbar from the edge of the area, before Kabongo Tshimanga struck the rebound onto the post from a wide angle.
At the other end, an unmarked Humphrys squandered a great opportunity to open the scoring, after failing to connect properly with a wicked Jordan Jones cross at the back post.
Aside from that chance, the first half was dominated by Fleetwood, and the Cod Army finally got their reward with a quick-fire double from Tshimanga just before the interval. The first, saw Danny Mayor deliver an excellent corner into the box, with Connor Teale’s initial header clawed away by Amos before Tshimanga headed the rebound into an empty net.
The striker pounced again just a matter of minutes later when Ryan Broom’s long-range effort was parried into Tshimanga’s path, who arrived on cue to fire in his second of the night and put the Cods in full control heading into half-time.
In search of a route back into the tie, the Latics made a triple substitution at half-time, and minutes later they were back in the game. Stephen Humphrys cut inside from a wide position, before curling a low strike past Lynch to half the deficit.
Spurred on by their goal, Wigan then continued to push, and with an hour left to play, they found the equaliser. Humphrys was again involved, this time playing a defence-splitting pass-through midfield to Stones, who slotted the ball past Lynch to draw the scores level.
With all three points now up for grabs, Lee Johnson’s side almost found an instant response, when a slick Fleetwood move saw Ryan Graydon pull the ball back to Stockley, who rattled the inside of the post from close range.
Buoyed by their two-goal turnaround, Wigan controlled the latter stages of the game and thought they’d won it when Pearce’s powerful free-kick ripped through a crowded penalty area, and past substitute goalkeeper Tom Donaghy in the 87th minute.
But there was still time for more late drama, as Earl arrived in the box to flick Mayor’s corner past Amos in added time, to take the game to penalties. This meant both sides earned a point for the result over 90 minutes, and a shootout would decide who earned an additional point in the group standings.
Heroics from substitute goalkeeper Donaghy saw him stop both Lang and Pearce from the spot, but misses from Mayor, Xavier Simons and Broom meant the extra point would stay at the DW.
Wigan Athletic XI: Amos (GK) (Tickle 46’), Watts (Pearce 46’), Sessegnon, Hughes, Clare, Wyke (Stones 46’), Humphrys (Sze 83’), Jones (McManaman 75’), Lang (C), Smith, Balagizi.
Subs not used: Rekik, McHugh.
Town XI: Lynch (GK), (Donaghy 71’) Robertson, Tshimanga, Stockley (C) (Omochere 75’), Mayor, Simons, Holgate, Graydon (Marriott 75’), Teale, Rooney (Broom 34’) Earl.
Subs not used: Nsiala, Patterson, Armstrong.