It was a brilliant come back from Crewe after two home defeats in a week, we were making sure it was a third. At first it was obvious what Wycombe came to do, defend with 10 men and frustrate us. However they weren't very good at it. They sat far too deep and gave us time and space to move into. At one time the back four strung together 6 or 7 passes without Wycombe even tracking the ball.
The new line up seemed fresher. David Wright balanced the defence down the right and Ashton’s natural talent made us a threat when holding the ball in the last quarter. Early on we soaked pressure from Wycombe but we made the break through early on. In the 8th minute a floated ball was flicked on by Hulse and as it seemed a Wycombe defender had the ball under control, mid way into the Wycombe half, Dean Ashton came rushing in from no-where and the ball fell kindly for the 19-year-old to take on Talia in the Wycombe goal. Deano got to the edge of the area before coolly slotting home under the keeper. He celebrated to the Gresty Road End with a simple "Whom?"
UUnfortunately the defence turned off for a few seconds after that. Less than 60 seconds after Wycombe kicked off again they equalised through awful defending. A cross came in from the right to the far post but Walton gambled and left the spare man at the far post to try and head clear but totally missed the ball and the Wycombe striker welcomed the ball to his feet to slot into the bottom left.
We were never really threatened by Wycombe but you couldn't help but hope that the goal was their one lucky break and their 10-man defence might get the better of us. There were some excellent displays out there though. Lee Bell was dominating midfield, winning tackle after tackle, and really driving the team forward. Sorvel played a decent game as well but the Alex 'faithful' were just waiting for him to make a tiny mistake so they could jump onto his back and have a good moan... even though Hulse lost a soft ball seconds later and it's "Ohh, unlucky".
Ashton worked hard and his neat foot work and willingness was brilliant. Again though, people were waiting for him to make a mistake. Alot of fans are moaning when we're walking it into the net but when Dean tries something clever and special they moan again. Examples of this was a high ball coming to him with his back to goal just outside the area, he tried to turn and at the same time smash it into the top left but he didn't quite get the power on it and groans went around the ground.
Rodders also had a good game and frequently got the better of the Wycombe defence and this led to the penalty. He took it from in field down the right but as he just entered the area a Wycombe defender tugged on his shirt and down Jack went. It looked very debatable on TV after though. Lunt stepped up and after witnessing his one at Brentford i wasn't confident. He proved me wrong though and sweetly conked it past the keeper who was on the ground before Lunt kicked the ball.
After that it was a matter of chances going begging. We were finding time and space and certainly didn't look the team that was booed off on Saturday. One effort saw Dean Ashton shoot a weak shot straight at the keeper when he should have scored after Hulse and Lunt opened a massive gap in the Wycombe defence. Another Ashton chance went begging when Jack got inside the area and squared it to Ashton who total miscued his shot and the ball just flew up and then he failed to get his shot/volley away.
That was about it for the half. There was a half time thought... why are there never men out on the pitch at half time to sort out the 'bobbly bits'?
The second half was much the same. Wycombe had their fair share of the ball but they were really bad at creating worthy shots. Belly continued dominating the game with his tough no-nonsense tackling. The Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse and Jack formation was really working as well. A third came and it was a beauty. Dean Ashton took the ball on the edge of the area and Vaughan raced just into the area which saw Deano sweetly pull the ball back then half chip it to Vaughan who took it past one defender before squaring it to Sorvel but Sorvels shot from only 8 yards out was blocked on the line by a Wanderers defender but Hulse was there to toe poke home.
Almost immediately after that and it were four. Lunt got down the left and smashed a curling low ball to an onrushing Ashton in the box who just tapped it in under the keeper showing great coolness finishing to finish off Wycombe. After that I was almost certain if we want it could be 5 or 6 and maybe 7. When we were controlling we looked un stoppable and once again it was the Alex from the past. You score 2 we'll score 3. The Man City attitude as they say.
We settled back though and couldn't be arsed to push ourselves further. Wycombe tried a comeback when a shot from 25 yards took a massive deflection to send Incey the wrong way before it bobbled into the net, the 90 or so Wycombe faithful gave it a round of applause knowing there wasn't much chance of coming back.
On the Crewe side though as things looked to be going well it all came crashing down when Wright halted and grabbed it thigh and straight away it was obvious he had annoyed the thigh strain he had just recovered from. In pain he signalled to be bench to be subbed and Sodje replaced him as Wright walked off down the tunnel with an ice pack. With 5 minutes to go it was time for Derry Dasher to come on and then straight back off in the 86th minute. The Eire international suffered a serious injury when a Wycombe player accidentally kicked him in the face then as he grabbed his face he banged into the advertising boards, he was stretchered off. Dario revealed he took a serious gash to the eye and suspected broken cheekbone and for the 2nd game in a week he was taken to hospital. Dario also mentioned he was concerned as he kept going in and out of consciousness.
The game finished 4-2 and PROMOTION IS BACK ON. Bad news was Cardiff won and Bristol city re joined them to snap at our heels. Cardiff though are getting abit too cocky in believing their game in hand will get them promoted.
One thing’s for sure, this isn’t going to be easy for them or us