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Wycombe Wanderers 1 |
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Peterborough United 2 |
Saturday 29th November 2003
Football League Division Two |
Wanderers' boss Tony Adams says he is still not looking at the League table despite
another injury time goal condemning Wanderers to defeat against Peterborough and stretching the gap to safety up to eight points. When asked by BBC Three Counties radio after the game if he felt there was enough time between now and the end of the season to get out of that position, Adams replied "You know what, I don't care. What I want are decent performances and week in and week out. And I believe that things will turn around." He added that he was very disappointed with the result but praised the defensive performance of the side, commenting "We had no problem as a defensive unit today. I've just watched the video again and they worked very hard, people like Ian Simpemba and Keith Ryan I thought were excellent. Scott Marshall and Thommo I thought had outstanding games, I thought they were very resillient. And then we've gone and let it go right at the death."
Team news against Peterborough saw Michael Simpson missing with injury while Keith Ryan stepped into a midfield role ahead of Charlie Mapes. However, despite the importance of the game Wanderers were always second best in the first half and it was no surprise when Leon McKenzie headed Posh into the lead on 33 minutes when he out jumped Scott Marshall following a free kick floated in from the right side of midfield by Curtis Woodhouse.
Wanderers had looked suspect at the back as early as the 5th minute when a free-kick from the right found its way through to Frank Talia who fumbled the ball on the greasy surface before Danny Senda cleared. There was another let off for Wanderers on 21 minutes when a ball was scrambled off the line following a corner from the left.
Wanderers best efforts came on the break. On 23 minutes a long clearance by Marshall found Stuart Roberts on the right. The Welshman centered to Darren Currie but his effort at goal was blocked as Wanderers claims for handball were waved away. Currie went close with an attempted chip from wide out on the left as the half-time break approached but Wanderers lack of centre forward saw Posh 'keeper James Pullen rarely tested.
Half-time Wycombe 0 Peterborough 1
 Craig Faulconbridge replaced an injured Jermaine McSporran directly after the interval. However, it was following the introduction of Gavin Holligan for Steve Brown on 61 minutes that Wycombe finally came to life. Within a minute a ball from the right had been flicked on Faulconbridge and it was Darren Currie who slotted away in style from the opposite corner of the penalty area. It prompted Wycombe's best spell of the game with Holligan going close while Stuart Roberts will know he should have done better with a couple of openings on the right side of the Posh penalty area. Faulconbridge too, making only his second appearance following a long term injury, flicked a Chris Vinnicombe delivery just past the far post on 64 minutes. A goal during this spell would have changed the whole course of the game.
The killer blow came in the second and final minute of stoppage time when Holligan gave the ball away in midfield and the visitors took advantage by feeding the ball down the right channel where Matt Nolan crossed for substitute Richard Logan to grab the winner with a diving header and bring a unified groan from the home fans but delight for the travelling contingent who had seen their side win for the first time ever at Adams Park.
It was defeat that Tony Adams said was hard to take, adding "I didn't think the first half was good enough...full stop. So that's the way I look at it. I do believe if you put the performance in you will get the result. I don't think the first half performance warranted getting all three points." Meanwhile Posh boss Barry Fry commented on their official website "We had so many chances in the first half I was disappointed not to be well ahead by half-time. I told the lads at half-time to guard against complacency and Wycombe came out and performed well - I was very disappointed that they scored when they did. I made two substitutions and they worked to be honest."
Final Score - Wycombe 1 Peterborough 2
Wycombe: Talia, Senda, Vinnicombe, Marshall, Thomson, Currie, Brown (sub 62 Holligan), Simpemba, Ryan, Roberts, McSporran (sub HT Faulconbridge) - subs not used: Williams, Bulman, Johnson
Bookings: Senda (foul 50)
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Peterborough: Pullen, Kanu, Arber, Rea, Jelleyman, Farrell (sub 71 Newton), Woodhouse, Thomson, Willock (sub 85 Legg), Andy Clarke (sub 69 Logan), McKenzie - subs not used: Scott, Gill
Bookings: Woodhouse (foul 41) |
| Referee: Mr Steve Tomlin |
Attendance: 4,669 (316 away end) |
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