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 It
was goalless at Layer Road on Saturday in a mainly dour encounter with old
rivals Colchester. In atrocious conditions Wycombe had to rely on more
outstanding goalkeeping from Martin Taylor to keep the home side at bay. New
loan signing Sam Parkin made his Wycombe debut when he replaced triallist
Niall Thompson on the hour mark and the 19 year old looked to have won a
penalty when he was hauled down by home 'keeper Andy Woodman. There were
heated exchanges in the 78th minute when substitute Tony Lock clattered Alan
Beeton into the advertising boards. Jamie Bates immediately led the charge
to advise referee Furnandiz where to send Lock and the ensuing mass brawl of
players, stewards and match officials ended with Lock sent down the tunnel.
The rest of those involved were lucky to escape punishment from the referee
and with Bates just one yellow card away from a one match ban, a booking
then would have been a double disaster for Wycombe. Elsewhere in the match
Michael Simpson proved yet again that he can't keep his mouth shut after he
talked himself into the book for his fifth yellow of the season and he will
miss the FA Cup game at Millwall.On a more positive note the return of Dannie Bulman gave Wycombe a little more bite in midfield and loanee Sam Parkin, although taking a few minutes to get his first touch, looked extremely dangerous breaking in from the left side. Niall Thompson completed his month trial at the game at Layer Road but Lawrie Sanchez has since extended the trial for another month. Steve Brown was missing from the squad after picking up a slight calf strain in training on Friday. With swirling wind and torrential rain making playing conditions extremely difficult the first-half was a fairly even affair but one that lacked the normal passion of a Colchester/Wycombe clash. Just to prove the point it was 16 minutes before referee Furnandiz awarded the first free-kick and that was for a handball against Jamie Bates. York loan signing Barry Conlan headed wide from the resulting free-kick. Earlier in the game Jermaine McSporran, returning in place of Mo Harkin, saw a overhead kick saved by Woodman in the United goal after Keith Ryan had knocked on Mark Rogers throw-in from the right side. Wycombe should have taken the lead on 30 minutes when McSporran's pace took him to the right bye-line but when the ball was delivered to the near post, Andy Rammell could only slide the ball wide of the target. With the rain getting even heavier United had their best chance of the afternoon. It came in the 36th minute with a break down the right channel. Wycombe only half cleared their lines from Mick Stockwell's cross and when the ball fell to ex-Wanderer Steve McGavin just 12 yards out, it was left for Martin Taylor to stun the home fans with a brilliant one-handed tip around his left-hand post. Half-time 0-0 Thompson and McSporran combined down the left wing six minutes into the second-half but the ball got tied up under the Canadian's feet as he saw sight of goal. It proved to be the triallist's last significant contribution to the game as he began to struggle on the slippy surface. Mistakes were always likely to gift a side a chance and that nearly came in the 52nd minute. Karl Duguid's toe poke seeing Taylor slip and then thankfully recover to push the wide of his left-hand post. The home side seemed to adapt far better to the conditions than Wycombe and despite kicking against the wind created the better chances in the second-half. The best of these came in the 58th minute when McGavin pushed the ball right to Stockwell who beat Alan Beeton with ease before being denied by another stunning tip over by Taylor in front of the healthy contingent of Wanderers' fans. The introduction of Parkin for Thompson gave Wycombe a new lease of life. Within a minute Simpson should have done better with his finish after nipping through from midfield but there was controversy in the 68th minute. Parkin worked the ball across from the left and when Rammell's shot was deflected to Parkin just six yards from goal, Woodman appeared to take the legs from the 19 year old after a poor first touch from the loanee. The home fans were booing in the 70th minute when McGavin was replaced by Tony Lock. Those jeers nearly turned to cheers three minutes later when Lock's deflected shot had Taylor scrambling to save. At the other end Parkin saw a powerful shot drift just a yard wide of the target before Lock launched himself into Beeton. With Lock sent down the tunnel and order finally restored amongst the remaining players neither side appeared too interested in going for a victory as the game ended goalless. Wycombe drop one place in the table to 7th after their fourth 0-0 of the season. FA Cup opponents Millwall took advantage of Wigan's draw at Bristol City to go top by beating Oldham 1-0 at Boundary Park. Full-time Colchester 0 Wycombe 0
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