Match report posted by John_ (view the full thread on the forum
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Well, despite being really disappointed to concede an injury-time leveller against Wycombe, I`m going to remain positive and point out a few facts. Our last two games have yielded two points away from home against teams that were in 3rd and 6th place. We have at last shown that when we do come up against the supposedly better sides we can handle ourselves and the situation. Dennis Wise alluded to the fact that we should really have won at Notts County on Saturday and yesterday, from what I saw first-hand, we should have had the game wrapped up long before Mr Mooney did the business.
Yesterday`s game started off slowly for Town as Wycombe did all the pressing and controlled the play. We seemed happy enough to back off and let the home side, led by Betsy on the wing and the tricky Easter, try and open us up. Our midfield were poor to begin with as whenever we did get the ball it was either wasted with an over-ambitious pass down the flank or we were closed down and harried & hustled into a mistake.
A lot of Wycombe`s early success came down their right flank. It was obvious Betsy and his colleague had the beating of Vincent and Monkhouse whose positioning, anticipation and understanding were not of the required standard. I`m getting a bit exasperated about all this backing-off we do as it immediately allows the attacker to make in-roads and before you know it they`re at the edge of the box threatening.
Mooney, as you might expect, was jeered throughout and his first strike towards goal ballooned over to much mirth. The thing with Mooney is that he thrives on all this. He`s not like a Joey Beauchamp who one can quickly reduce to a quivering, nervous wreck on the verge of tears. You couldn`t help but feel the more we jeered, the more fired up Tommy was becoming. We were basically adding the fuel to the fire. Besides, he took it all in good stead and was smiling throughout.
The first real chance for the home side saw Brezovan diving full stretch to tip away an effort. It was a heart-in-the-mouth moment as we were never really sure if it was going to sneak in the near post or not. Thankfully the keeper`s long arms did the necessary and pushed it away and we survived.
I guess this was the catalyst for us to finally wake-up and we, at last, started pushing Wycombe back. We were still relying predominantly on balls up towards Fola Onibuje who, despite being 6`7 doesn`t nearly win as many headers as he should.
Peacock went off injured and was replaced by Roberts and in a similar fashion, Wycombe lost their tricky forward Easter through an injured groin.
Fola looked the most likely to score for us. His pace was a nuisance for the defenders and his gangly presence saw him shake off a few challenges. Sadly, we were reduced to half chances and though we forced a few corners a goal was still a long way off.
Pook found his way into the referee`s notebook for a rather crude mis-timed challenge and Evans was also booked for barging an opponent off the ball. I felt the latter infringement was a bit harsh. Soon after we noticed Evans limping around. Pook was getting more involved as the game went on which can only do his confidence the world of good. The sooner he realises, and gets it through his head, that as a central midfielder he has a big role to play and can`t be seen letting play go on around him whilst just jogging around aimlessly, the better.
Half-time saw Weston replace Evans and the transformation was immediate. Weston was like a breath of fresh air. He looked composed, intelligent and was at home running with the ball and laying it off. You could definitely see a change in impetus and Wycombe were really beginning to stretch.
Space was opening up and this allowed Roberts some freedom. Our wingers, Monkhouse and Brownlie, came to the fore and what with the Town now attacking the end we fans were at, an extra notch on the noise level was reached.
The Wycombe citadel was breached in the 51st minute. Christian Roberts did