Report by Dave Seddon, Wigan Evening Post

LATICS made hard work of preserving the Football League's only unbeaten record.

Defeats in midweek for Brentford and Fulham left John Benson's boys with that honour going into Saturday's game, but only a much improved display after the interval against Cardiff kept it intact.

I won't pull any punches - for the first 45 minutes against the Welshmen, Latics were dreadful.

They thoroughly deserved the chorus of boos which rang out from the stands as they went for their half-time cuppa, and manager Benson went as far as saying that the crowd "deserved their money back" for the first half showing.

"We were absolutely diabolical until the interval and we played it just like a testimonial match," Benson admitted afterwards.

Fortunately one or two stern words in the dressing room sparked them into life, and goals at the beginning and end of the second period saw Latics home and dry.

Roberto Martinez and Ian Kilford were the goalscorers, and both took their chances with clinical pieces of finishing.

It was Martinez's second goal inside a week following his scorcher at Wrexham, but before then he hadn't found the net for nearly two years.

And you have to go back until August 1998 to find when Kilford was last on target in a league game, although he did score in last season's Auto Windscreens Shield tie at Carlisle.

But while Martinez and Kilford were heroes at one end, that accolade at the other went to Arjan de Zeeuw.

The Dutchman was rock solid at the heart of the backline, and it's difficult recalling an occasion over the 90 minutes when visiting striker Kevin Nugent got the better of him.

He hardly got a sniff at goal all afternoon, and de Zeeuw's display was the biggest reason why Latics were able to take three points when performing well below par.

As expected, they were without injured trio of Roy Carroll, Carl Bradshaw and Simon Haworth for the clash.

But one surprise inclusion saw Kevin Nicholls finally handed his debut nearly five months after signing from Charlton.

He had reportedly broken down in a midweek reserve game, but Benson gambled and included him in a bid to beef up his midfield which the boss recently identified as a problem area.

It soon became apparant though that he was lacking match fitness - not a surprise after such a long spell on the sidelines - and was sensibly replaced at half time by Scott Green.

That substitution freed Kilford from the right wing back slot to move to his more accustomed central midfield role, and Latics looked far more balanced as a result.

There was little incident of note in the early stages of the game, with Nicholls rolling a low shot tamely at visiting keeper Jon Hallworth, while de Zeeuw and Jason Fowler both collected yellow cards.

Cardiff should have taken the lead though in the 22nd minute when Winston Faerber's cross found Dai Thomas unmarked in the middle but he completely fluffed his shot.

Latics created two chances within the space of as many minutes just after the half hour, and both should have been tucked away. In the 31st minute, Michael O'Neill's cross from the bye-line to the left of goal was blocked by the visiting defence but landed at the feet of Andy Liddell.

He squared the ball into the path of Darren Sheridan who blazed over the bar from 12 yards.

Then Nicholls' pass from the centre circle sent Stuart Barlow scampering clear down the left wing.

His cross picked out Martinez in the area, the Spaniard switched the ball on his right foot, but saw his goalbound shot strike Tony Vaughan in the chest and bounce clear.

The Latics players headed for the tunnel at half-time with their heads down preparing for another roasting from Benson, but came out looking a different side.

And they took the lead with just three minutes of the second period gone.

Green made an immediate impact, sending over a cross from the right wing which caused mayhem in the visitors' box.

Liddell had the first stab at goal but his effort was blocked, the ball bounced up, hit Russell Perrett on the head forcing Hallworth to pull off a reflex save to prevent an own goal.

But the ball came out to MARTINEZ and he lashed a shot from 12 yards into the roof of the net.

Green's eventful start to his first game for five weeks continued two minutes later when he was booked by referee Phil Dowd for preventing Cardiff taking a quick free kick.

The goal gave Latics increased confidence, with Liddell shooting straight at Hallworth while Martinez was inches away from finding the net again with a 20 yard drive.

Cardiff were limited going forward and offered few serious threats to Stillie's goal as the game wore on.

Danny Hill shot over from the edge of the box in the 68th minute after a corner wasn't properly cleared, but apart from a few hopeful crosses delivered into the danger zone and a late attempt from Willie Boland, that was about it.

The hard working Liddell almost got himself on the scoresheet after 70 minutes with a chip from the corner of the area which Hallworth held at full stretch above his head.

Latics finally killed off Cardiff in the 89th minute thanks to the boot of their very own 'Killer'.

KILFORD took Green's pass on the overlap down the right, cut inside into the area and placed a low shot across Hallworth into the far corner.

Game, set and match to Latics, but why did they make it so hard for themselves?