Tuesday 2nd October 2001 Football League Division Two
Wycombe missed the chance to lift themselves to 7th place in the Division Two table at Gigg Lane after a 1-1 draw at basement side Bury. However, it could have been worse after Wycombe were forced to play 74 minutes of the game with ten men following the controversial dismissal of Paul McCarthy. Wycombe were already leading thanks to a 6th minute goal from Steve Brown but ten minutes later 'Macca' was adjudged to have fouled Jon Newby as he broke into the Wycombe box. Wanderers were then dealt the double blow of seeing McCarthy sent off and Paul Reid step up to convert the spot kick.
Wycombe re-organised immediately bringing on Jason Cousins for Darren Currie and consequently spent the vast majority of the remainder of the game with their backs to the wall. However, a solid defensive performance salvaged a point.
Wycombe started the game with an unchanged line-up to the one that faced Port Vale the previous Saturday and they soon found themselves a goal up when some good work by Andy Rammell and Richard Walker culminated in Brown rifling in an effort from the edge of the box.
It was one-way traffic at this point with Bury relying on the break to cause Wycombe problems. Then on 16 minutes the game was turned on its head. A Wycombe free-kick from the right came to nothing and as Bury 'keeper Paddy Kenny cleared long under pressure from Walker, McCarthy tangled with Newby but appeared to get the ball away. The incident was at the far end of the end compared to the hardy band of travelling fans from Wycombe but it looked harsh to say the least. Referee Joslin was at least 30 yards from the incident but he had no hesitation in bandishing the red card. With Macca back in the dressing room (no doubt spitting blood), the home side drew level with Reid sending Taylor the wrong way from the spot.
Smelling their first home victory of the season, Bury went all out for a winner but were left ruing a series of missed chances as Wycombe hung on. George Syros missed a clear header just before the break and twelve minutes into the second period Ian Lawson struck the crossbar after Martin Taylor had saved Newby's initial shot.
On 68 minutes there was another let off for Wycombe when Martyn Forest smashed an effort against the crossbar. By this stage Wycombe had reverted to a one man attack with Rammell being withdrawn for Dannie Bulman. Dave Carroll then replaced Richard Walker as Wycombe enjoyed a brief spell threatening the Bury goal. With three minutes remaining Jermaine McSporran was felled by Bury 'keeper Paddy Kenny just outside the penalty. That foul only warranted a yellow card and from the resulting free-kick, Carroll couldn't keep the ball down.
On the face of it this was a real battling performace from Wycombe where Mark Rogers was outstanding in the centre defence. However, the midfield were giving the ball away too often and the withdrawal of Currie for Cousins, although necessary to some extent, left Wycombe with few options to fed the paceless front duo of Rammell and Walker. The introduction of Carroll injected some new ideas towards the end and there were signs that McSporran is ready to become the threat to opposing defences that we all know and love. Final Score Bury 1 Wycombe 1
Match and players
All the Wycombe results, scorers, team line-ups and statistical breakdown of the current season - FULLY INTERACTIVE to your heart's content.
Latest Table and form
Updated table with results archive of ALL Division Two games plus form guide and previous meeting between ALL clubs for the past four seasons.
Wycombe missed the chance to lift themselves to 7th place in the Division Two table at Gigg Lane after a 1-1 draw at basement side Bury. However, it could have been worse after Wycombe were forced to play 74 minutes of the game with ten men following the controversial dismissal of Paul McCarthy. Wycombe were already leading thanks to a 6th minute goal from Steve Brown but ten minutes later 'Macca' was adjudged to have fouled Jon Newby as he broke into the Wycombe box. Wanderers were then dealt the double blow of seeing McCarthy sent off and Paul Reid step up to convert the spot kick.
"Was
our reporter at the same game? Have your say!!"
On
This Day
All there is to say and know about Wycombe Wanderers on the Internet