Ethan Chislett's late winner completed his hat-trick as the Valiants won an enthralling contest at Vale Park to make it back to back league wins.
After only four minutes of play Vale came margins away from taking the lead. Alfie Devine delivered a cross from the right which deflected into the path of Conor Grant, whose low strike was pushed onto the crossbar by the legs of Sam Tickle in the Wigan net.
The opening stages of the game were completely contested in the visitor's half, and on 20 minutes Ethan Chislett piled on more pressure when he dragged an effort across Tickle’s goal and wide.
Just one minute later, the South African midfielder found the deserved opener for the Valiants. Gavin Massey burst into space down the right and drilled a ball into the feet of Chislett, who slotted home cooly.
Vale pressed for a second goal and nearly grabbed it on 26 minutes. Devine slipped Chislett in behind the Wigan defence, who flashed a ball across the box which was hooked away by a Latics defender.
With five minutes left before the break, the visitors were lucky to find themselves not further behind again. Devine laid the ball off to Grant on the edge of the area and he curled a powerful effort just over the crossbar.
The Valiants were rewarded for their first-half dominance as they doubled their lead on 44 minutes. Arblaster produced a dazzling run before playing Chislett in one-on-one against Wigan’s keeper, and our midfielder made no mistake smashing past Tickle for his second of the game.
It wasn’t until the first minute of stoppage time when the visitors registered a chance. Stephen Humphrys drove into the Vale penalty area but steered his shot too far to the right of Connor Ripley’s goal.
Vale started the second half as they did the first, hungry for goals. Devine forced a brilliant diving stop from Wigan’s number one, and then a goalmouth scramble ensued after the ball was whipped back in, but it was eventually cleared by the visitors
In the 58th minute last-ditch defending was required of the Latics to prevent the hosts from adding a third. The ball dropped to Arblaster on the edge of the box whose initial volley rebounded back to him, before he fired towards the bottom right corner, but Liam Morrison provided a crucial block.
Completely against the run of play, the visitors pulled a goal back on 63 minutes. Callum Lang stole the ball high up the pitch surged down the right before picking out substitute Chris Sze, who finished past a scrambling Ripley.
Then on 77 minutes the Latics equalised following a cross from Callum McManaman, which was met by fellow substitute Charlie Wyke, who tucked the chance away.
The leveller produced an immediate response from Vale as substitute Tom Sang rifled an effort goalwards in an attempt to fire the Valiants back in front, but Tickle got behind the ball and kept it out.
In the 81st minute Devine went agonisingly close to restoring our lead. The ball was cut back to him by Arblaster before he smacked his attempt off the post, keeping the game all square.
However, it wasn’t long before the Valiants scored a deserved winner. Chislett surged through Wigan’s midfield brushing aside challenges, before lofting a stunning strike over Tickle in the Latics net to secure his hat-trick and the three points for Vale.
Port Vale | Connor Ripley, Kofi Balmer (Alex Iacovitti 81’), Ben Garrity, Ethan Chislett, Alfie Devine, Funso Ojo (Ryan Loft 73’), Conor Grant (Tom Sang 61’), Jason Lowe, Ollie Arblaster, Gavin Massey, Jesse Debrah
Unused Subs | Jayson Leutwiler, Nathan Smith, Uche Ikpeazu, Rhys Walters
Wigan Athletic | Sam Tickle, Kelland Watts (Liam Morrison 46’), Steven Sessegnon, Charlie Hughes, Sean Clare (Chris Sze 61’) , Stephen Humphreys (Callum McManaman 61’), Jordan Jones, Jonny Smith (Charlie Wyke 46’), Callum Lang, Scott Smith, Babajide Adeeko (Josh Magennis 86’)
Unused Subs | Ben Amos, Liam Morrison, Liam Shaw