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1993-1994 RETRO INDEX | HISTORY MENU |
Retro - A look back on the 1993/94 season Sent to Coventry in the League Cup |
Coventry City provided the opposition for The Wanderers in the Second Round of the Coca Cola Cup, The first leg taking place at Highfield Road on Wednesday 22nd Septemer 1993. It was Wanderers first competitive match against Premiership opposition and by the end of the night you could have come to the conclusion that the gulf between the Premier League and Division Three was still a large one. Wanderers, backed by a following of close to 4,000 in the 9,615 attendance, saw Steve Thompson return from a groin injury and Graham Potter make his full Wycombe debut in the jinxed left-back position. 18 year old Potter had arrived the previous week on a month's loan from Birmingham City. The travelling contingent saw Wycombe fall behind in the 13th minute when Steve Morgan converted from Willie Boland's cross from the left and although Wanderers matched the home side for effort, it was Morgan again who doubled the lead with a header past Paul Hyde from another Boland cross on 41 minutes. By then Thompson had been forced off with a re-occurence of his injury and was replaced by Hakan Hayrettin. It was the former Barnet player who was involved in Wanderers best chances of the evening. First, just moments before the break, Tim Langford balloned an effort over following Hayrettin's pass. Then twelve minutes into the second-half Keith Scott should have done better from a low cross from Dave Carroll after Hayrettin had beaten Roy Wegerle in midfield. What would eventually prove a decisive third goal for City came in the 66th minute when John Williams robbed Potter of possession on their right, before crossing to Mick Quinn who steered the past Hyde. Wycombe line-up vs Coventry: Hyde, Cousins, Potter, Crossley, Evans, Ryan, Carroll, Langford (sub 68 Hemmings), Thompson (sub 37 Hayrettin), Scott, Guppy - sub unused: Moussaddik - Att:9,615 - Ref: T Lunt After the game Martin O'Neill was disappointed with the result, saying "It's going to be tough in the second leg. I thought we played well intermitently". Meanwhile, City boss Bobby Gould commented "I can't say whether this lead is good enough unti we go down there. Wycombe are a cavalier team and if their fans are in the same mode, I hope 3-0 is enough". O'Neill also commented on Wanderers' support at the game at Highfield Road, saying "It's the talk of the Coventry people. They all said they could not believe the support we got. I do not think there is any away support in the country as good as ours". The Wanderers boss hoped for a similar backing in the return leg but added "I would not force people to make noise they do not want to make but it does help" Wanderers would have a couple of weeks to wait before the return leg at Adams Park. In between they had two more games in Division Two and a debut apperance in the Autoglass Trophy. Barnet providing the opposition in the latter with The Division Two strugglers eventually beaten by a solitary Keith Scott goal on 39 minutes in front of 2,323 attendance at Adams Park. The game marked the return to action after nine months absence through injury of Glyn Creaser and the former Barnet man put in a strong performance against a Bees side that included other Underhill/Adams Park connections in the form of Nicky Evans, Geoff Copper and Gary Smith. On the League front Doncaster Rovers travelled to Adams Park on Saturday 25th September 2003 in what would turn out to a pivotal day in the career of Jason Cousins. Before the game Cousins wrote in his 'Captain's Log' column in the Bucks Free Press "I was determined to have a good game at Coventry after being sent off against Colchester last Saturday. The manager told me that I had let the side down, I agreed that I had. I am the captain and should set an example" |
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