Wigan Athletic boss reacts to FA Cup win at Solihull Moors

Leam Richardson felt his Wigan Athletic side were just about good value for their place in the second round of the FA Cup after being taken to extra time in the first-round replay at Solihull.
The Latics players protest about the award of Solihull's penaltyThe Latics players protest about the award of Solihull's penalty
The Latics players protest about the award of Solihull's penalty

Latics fell behind three minutes into the second period after a hugely contentious handball call by referee Charles Breakspear, with the offence appearing to be committed by a Solihull player.

Adam Rooney made no mistake from the spot, but Latics were level on 65 minutes when Gwion Edwards' shot was flicked home by Jason Kerr.

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Neither side was able to force a winner in normal time, before Callum Lang headed home Max Power's free-kick seconds before the interval in extra-time to send Latics through.

"It was very hard-fought but I thought, over the two games, we probably deserved it," said Richardson.

"Credit goes to Solihull, who I thought were excellent to a man, very well drilled and very well structured.

"We had to work hard, and we know for their first goal, the officials may have got it wrong, which is disappointing.

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"Our lads got us back into it with a good goal, and I thought we controlled parts of the game.

"We stuck to the task, it's all about going through, we're in the hat for the next round, and we're pleased with that."

On the handball decision that put Latics behind, Richardson felt a clear injustice had occured.

"I felt at the time it was a yellow arm that had gone up, and it should be a free-kick to ourselves," he added.

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"With those decisions, you have to be 100 per cent right (to give a penalty).

"You've got four officials there and you just can't get it wrong.

"We know officials have lots of decisions to make, there's a lot of moving parts to a game, but thankfully it didn't affect the final result."

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