Match Report |
Second best Wrexham no match for Wycombe
By: Mark Williams
PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS: With all the injury problems the best we
could hope for would be a draw against a team unbeaten in the league
this season although I did predict a 3-0 thrashing on the way down!
CONDITIONS: Wet
SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE WORD: Embarrassing
TURNING POINT: Wycombe’s third goal ended our slim hopes of
snatching a draw
MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS:
You knew Wrexham were going to be in for a difficult evening when
Wycombe had two goals disallowed for offside in the opening quarter of
an hour. To even come away from Adams Park with a draw would require the
team to dig in but this effort was missing as the game proved
to be a match too far for the injury ravaged side.
Injuries apart the players on the pitch should have matched Wycombe for
effort and there would have be no grumbles but at times it appeared that
Wycombe had an extra player on the pitch as they constantly ran through
our non existent midfield onto our exposed defenders. Despite this
Wrexham created the first opportunity of the game but Robbie Foy
flashed a volley from Alex Smith’s cross over the bar.
With Wycombe looking dangerous with
every attack by making full use of
the flanks the manner of their opening two goals was disappointing. A
simple ball from the right flank caught out the Wrexham defence with
Bayliss, who had been limping from an earlier tackle, hopelessly
appealing for offside as Tyson chased the ball down. Michael Jones
rushed off his line and reached the ball before Tyson but misjudged the
bounce as the ball went over him and Tyson was presented with his
easiest goal of the season, finished with a diving header on the line!
Wrexham players were struggling to keep their footing on a sodden pitch
but it was obvious that Wycombe were using the correct studs and a
further slip from Bayliss resulted in the second goal midway through the
first half. Bayliss looked to be cutting out the low ball through but his slip sent
Betsy clear of the offside trap and he advanced
into the box before slotting the ball under Jones and inside of the near
post.
Wrexham some how managed to hang onto half time as the first half
followed a predictable pattern with Wycombe appearing to attack at will
and Wrexham were grateful to a challenge from Lawrence that deflected a
shot from Bloomfield wide of the far post.
Wycombe started the second half where they left off and a good tip over from
Michael Jones kept the deficit to two when he reacted quickly to Torres
snap shot from the edge of the area.
The first half was as bad as I have
seen for a long time
|
From Crispinlane Signalman
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This could have been the turning point as within ten minutes of the
restart Wrexham hade halved the arrears with a well taken goal from Mark
Jones. Jones picked up a through ball from Williams and a quick turn
allowed him to break clear of his marker. Robbie Foy did well to take
the defender away from Jones and this allowed the midfielder to measure
a shot that bounced just in front of Talia and the wet surface zipped
the ball into the net.
Wrexham could not take advantage of the life line and four minutes later
the experienced Tommy Mooney effectively put the game beyond Wrexham.
Nathan Tyson got the better of half time substitute Mike Williams, who
was making his debut as a replacement for the injured Linwood, and his
cross was perfect for Moody to restore Wycombe’s two goal advantage.
If anything the third goal sparked Wrexham’s best period of the game
with Bennett seeing his deflected shot narrowly missing the far post and
quick passing between Smith and Walters resulted in Ferguson bursting
onto the lose ball in the box but he was denied by a last ditch diving
challenge.
The combination of Betsy, Tyson and Moody were too much for the Wrexham
defence and the three players combined for Wycombe’s fourth goal
although they did get the break of the ball when a challenge from Mike
Williams deflected the ball into the path of Tyson who made no mistake
from just inside of the area with nine minutes left.
There was still time for Jamie Reed to replace the ineffective Walters
and the young substitute, with no name and number on his shirt, had two
opportunities but pulled the first one wide from a narrow angle but
should have done better with the second after he was picked out by
Ferguson on the edge of the area.
OPPOSITION AND FANS: On this showing it was no surprise that
Wycombe are unbeaten in the league this season as the three strikers
contained the perfect balance of pace and power to dominate many a
league 2 defence this season. Fans were lively but so would we during a
comfortable 4-1 victory.
OFFICIALS: Too fussy with his whistle but had a good game overall
and was helped with no controversial decisions to make, mainly down to
Wrexham not offering any challenges.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Mike Williams – only come on half time and was
one of our better defenders on the night.
IF YOU WERE DENIS SMITH: Change the formation as with a lack of
pace the 3-5-2 is not working away from home. The wing backs were only
delivering balls from deep and this makes life easy for the opposition
defence. When the strikers were pulled out wide there was only one red
shirt in the box with the wing backs not rushing in from their wings and
the midfield not supporting the attack to make up the numbers. |
Match Reaction |
Denis Smith: "I don't often lose my temper but I did
at half-time and then again at full-time. At 2-1 I thought they had gone so
to concede a goal from a throw-in in their half the pitch took some doing.
Unfortunately, we seemed to be in a very generous mood this evening. We have
only conceded nine goals so far this season but we could have conceded nine
in this game alone. We made it easy for Wycombe but it wasn't the younger
players it was the more experienced ones. Some people will have a go at
Carrots for the first goal but he, along with Mike Williams and Jamie Reed,
did well afterwards and showed some character. Hopefully, whoever is manager
in two to three years time will get the benefit of these lads coming
through. Obviously we had a lot of injuries but I did make a promise to
myself not to talk about that side of things as I am fed up of the
situation." [Source:
Wrexham AFC]
John Gorman: "Wrexham did well to come back into the
game. But even when we lost a goal our heads didn't drop and we just kept
playing the same way as before. In fact, we picked it up a gear and went
onto get the third and fourth and that was very pleasing. I thought Mooney
was the best player on the pitch. He was outstanding, played a part in every
goal and scored a great one for himself. It came at a crucial moment in the
game and we then finished them off in handsome style. It was nice to see
that they came to win the game and I thought it was a good advert for the
league. They're a good little football team and Darren Ferguson is a very
good player. It would have been nice for the result to have been 4-0 but
they did well to score. Cheltenham felt that Wrexham were the best team
they'd come across in the league. If that's the case we beat them well so
we're not doing too bad." [Source:
Wycombe Wanderers FC] |
League 2 Table |
Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
1 |
Grimsby Town |
11 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
18 |
8 |
10 |
23 |
2 |
Wycombe Wanderers |
11 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
22 |
12 |
10 |
21 |
3 |
Chester City |
11 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
20 |
11 |
9 |
20 |
4 |
Leyton Orient |
11 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
18 |
17 |
1 |
20 |
5 |
Rochdale |
11 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
20 |
13 |
7 |
17 |
6 |
Northampton Town |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
17 |
12 |
5 |
17 |
7 |
Cheltenham Town |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
16 |
13 |
3 |
17 |
8 |
Oxford United |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
14 |
13 |
1 |
17 |
9 |
Carlisle United |
11 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
12 |
12 |
0 |
17 |
10 |
Notts County |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
12 |
-1 |
17 |
11 |
Shrewsbury Town |
11 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
13 |
10 |
3 |
16 |
12 |
Lincoln City |
11 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
13 |
11 |
2 |
14 |
13 |
Darlington |
11 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
14 |
13 |
1 |
14 |
14 |
Peterborough United |
11 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
11 |
0 |
14 |
15 |
Barnet |
11 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
15 |
-1 |
13 |
16 |
Wrexham |
11 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
13 |
-1 |
13 |
17 |
Bristol Rovers |
11 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
12 |
18 |
-6 |
12 |
18 |
Rushden and Diamonds |
11 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
17 |
-6 |
11 |
19 |
Stockport County |
11 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
15 |
18 |
-3 |
10 |
20 |
Boston United |
11 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
14 |
19 |
-5 |
10 |
21 |
Macclesfield Town |
11 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
13 |
19 |
-6 |
10 |
22 |
Bury |
11 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
10 |
16 |
-6 |
9 |
23 |
Torquay United |
11 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
19 |
-11 |
8 |
24 |
Mansfield Town |
11 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
15 |
21 |
-6 |
7 |
|
|
Wrexham |
Starting XI:
13 |
Michael Jones |
21 |
Paul Linwood
45' |
04 |
Dave Bayliss |
06 |
Dennis Lawrence |
12 |
Dean Bennett |
08 |
Danny Williams |
17 |
Mark Jones
|
10 |
Darren Ferguson |
03 |
Alex Smith |
09 |
Jon Walters
79' |
14 |
Robbie Foy |
Subs:
19 |
Levi Mackin |
20 |
Simon Spender |
22 |
Matt Done |
25 |
Mike Williams
45' |
27 |
Jamie Reed
79' |
Stats:
Shots on Goal: |
5 |
Shots on Target: |
5 |
Shots off Target: |
0 |
Possession: |
49% |
Fouls Conceded: |
13 |
Corners: |
8 |
Yellow Cards: |
0 |
Red Cards: |
0 |
|
Match Notes |
Venue |
Causeway Stadium |
Attendance |
4,166 |
Half Time |
Wycombe 2 Wrexham 0 |
Referee |
Gary Lewis (Cambridgeshire) |
|
Match Incidents |
16' |
Nathan Tyson opens the
scoring following a mistake by Michael Jones |
22' |
Kevin Betsy takes
advantage of a slip by Dave Bayliss to double Wycombe's advantage |
54' |
Mark Jones gives Wrexham
a glimmer of hope with a strike from twenty yards |
58' |
Tommy Moody ends
Wrexham's hopes converting a cross from the right |
81' |
Nathan Tyson completes
the rout after the ball breaks to him from a challenge |
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