It was never going to be an easy match to review, Premier League [cough] giants against fourth division minnows and all that. It ‘s pretty hard to be magnanimous in defeat when there ‘s such a gap in league placings and even harder to do both sides justice should the relative positions hold true. Don ‘t believe me? Think about how you used to feel reading about ‘plucky little Wigan ‘ and tell me it doesn ‘t grate.

So perhaps it ‘s a good job that the result came out the way it did. Instead of trying to find a balance, I can simply tell you that County came at us like it was a cup tie and they were the under dogs and that Latics weren ‘t ready for them. The boys in the horrible orange kit would have been glad to get to half time just to give their back feet a rest.

Then post half-time, with a substitution and a few minor tweaks (and, no doubt, backsides kicked), Latics reversed the tide. Scotland bags his first, Watson stakes a claim for more involvement, everyone goes home a little relieved. A bad day at the office for Latics, but, in a strange way, a good one too. Remember Blackpool? This could have easily been a repeat. Bobby talks about learning lessons, maybe something is starting to sink through.

But then there ‘s the debate about how useful the replay is for either side.

A top flight club away in the FA Cup is about as good as you can get for a club on the verge of a winding up order and in need of £200,000, but that is just about the point where County start to regret not getting a proper top side. The total gate money next Wednesday is unlikely to come to that, let alone County ‘s half of it. Could Latics ‘ fans raise that if their own club were in danger, let alone for someone else? Just about I reckon, but only just about.

For Latics, it ‘s an old cliche, isn ‘t it? No top flight club wants a replay at this stage, do they? Well, I ‘d argue that it ‘s a load better than not being in the cup at all. Of course the next few weeks are a little bit crowded already, but will one more game make that much difference (or should a cynic say two more games)? And in any case, these lads are professional sports people, surely they ‘d prefer the chance to compete twice a week over training every day?

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