Steven Schumacher admitted Bolton’s first derby victory over League One rivals Wigan in more than a decade had been a long time coming.
Chris Forino prodded the ball home from close range after Wigan failed to clear a corner in the third minute of added time to secure Wanderers’ first win over the Latics since January 2015.
The goal sparked scenes of euphoria in the away end and led to ugly scenes in the technical area, with Wigan head coach Ryan Lowe given a red card and goalkeeping coach Andy Lonergan a yellow.
But all that mattered to Bolton was three big points – which lifts them back into the top six.
“The fans are going home happy,” said Schumacher. “It’s been a long time coming to beat these.
“To win it in the last minute, in a game the way it was, in a night fixture…
“It’s a real scrappy game. The goal just about summed the game up.
“But it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that we come out of it with the right result that we wanted, and to get three points and send our incredible fans home happy.
“Yeah, I’m just delighted.
“I think the magnitude of it hit me as I walked out of the tunnel at the start of the game. When I see the atmosphere, I’m thinking, ‘oh my God, this is a proper derby game’.
“And then, when I went into the changing room, that was the first thing I said to the players, because they’re all coming in on a high.
“I’ve sensed that this means a lot to us, and it’s my first experience of it. It’s not their first experience of it, and as I say, they’ve had some difficult days against these as well.
“So, to win it in that way that we did was fantastic.”
With EFL rules preventing Lowe from conducting his post-match press duties, Wigan’s first-team coach Glenn Whelan was left to answer questions.
“It’s never nice losing any game, but to lose it in that manner, so late on, to a pure ricochet,” he said.
“We needed cool heads to try to clear it, but it didn’t go our way. These things happen.
“It was a draw all day long. I don’t think you can say any more than that, and to lose the way we did, it’s a real sucker punch for us.
“Everyone’s obviously disappointed. It’s a local derby and Wigan over the years have been on top in this fixture.
“Now it goes the other way…and we have to dust ourselves down and go again at the weekend.
On the skirmish at the end, Whelan added: “Listen, I’ve seen loads of things in football and there was really nothing in that tonight.”
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