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Wycombe Wanderers 1
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Wrexham 1 |
Saturday 1st May 2004
Football League Division Two |
Steve Brown made his farewell home apperance of his Wycombe career as Wanderers ended their 2003/4 home campaign with a trademark draw. Brownie was Captain for the day against Wrexham and was in tears at the end as he waved goodbye to Wanderers fans on three sides of the ground.
The game itself was little to write home about although it looked like Wycombe had grabbed a winner in the 79th winner when Brown's corner from the left eventually found its way to the Club Player of the Season Roger Johnson who lashed the ball into the Valley End net from around the penalty spot mark. The goal was still being confirmed over the PA when Wrexham were gifted an equaliser. Ian Simpemba and Wayne Henderson had a misunderstanding on the left edge of the Wanderers penalty area and Chris Llewellyn stuck the ball into an empty net. It was typical of Wanderers' season.
 Aiming to go out of the season with a home win, Tony Adams made just one change to the side who had drawn at Brentford the previous week - Dannie Bulman replacing the injured Michael Simpson in midfield. Wanderers began in a high tempo fashion but couldn't get the vital goal. Nathan Tyson should have done better when put clean through in the third minute but he curled his shot from the centre of goal too close to Michael Ingham in the Wrexham goal. Three minutes later Danny Senda set up Tyson but the ex-Reading player sided footed wide. On 20 minutes Mark Philo and Dannie Bulman both had shots from the left channel but the Wrexham defence managed to get enough bodies behind the ball to avert the danger.
Dissapointly the pace of the game dropped before Stuart Nethercott went closest to breaking the deadlock six minutes before the break when he headed back a Senda free-kick from the left back past the near post. At the other end Hector Sam provided a brief moment of danger for the Wanderers defence when he got clear on the left but Henderson was down quick to smother the shot.
Half-time 0-0
 A quiet start to the second period was interupted on 64 minutes when a good pass from the left by Tyson picked out Bulman running towards goal but the resulting daisy cutter shot went agonisingly wide of the upright. Tyson was booked for diving in the 68th minute when he went to ground following a challenge from No.4 just inside the left corner of the Wrexham penalty area. It looked harsh but the referee was close to the indicent. A lively Bulman took a clattering in the 77th minute has be challenged for the ball close to the edge of the box and he was replaced by Charlie Mapes. Two minutes later Wycombe were ahead as they made rare use of a corner. Fittingly it was Brown who took the corner that was partly cleared for Philo to nod back in, Simpemba to lay off and for Johnson to slam the ball home to bring some rare joy to the Wanderers support. However, the cheering was quickly replaced by groans as Wanderers committed defensive suicide again. It took Wrexham just nine seconds from the restart to score as a ball was hoofed to their left wing. Simpemba let the ball bounce and as Henderson raced to claim the loose ball, Simpemba chested the ball into the path of a grateful Chris Llewellyn. Thankfully, the goal had no bearing on the outcome of the season.
 There were emotional scenes after the final whistle as Steve Brown took his 'lap of honour' with the rest of the squad. Brown will now say his last farewell in a Wycombe shirt when Wanderers close the 2003/4 season with a game at Peterborough on 8th May.
Final Score
Wycombe 1 Wrexham 1
Speaking after the game Tony Adams said he thought his side played well but that a win would have been nice, "It is disappointing because the lads had fought so hard to get in front and we've given too many away like that this season and it's probably why we are in the situation that we are."
The Wycombe boss paid tribute to Steve Brown, commenting "Steve Brown was fantastic, what a servant! He was very emotional after the game in the dressing room and it’s a shame we couldn’t get a win for him but there’s another opportunity next week at Peterborough. He certainly did well enough to stay in the side and hopefully he’ll lead the lads out again next week and finish on a high note."
Wycombe: Henderson, Simpemba, Nethercott, Johnson, Vinnicombe, Bulman (sub 77 Mapes), Bloomfield, Brown, Senda, Tyson, Philo - subs not used Currie, Dixon, Reilly, Hole
Bookings: Tyson (ungentlemanly conduct 69)
Scorer: Johnson (79) |
Wrexham: Ingham, Roberts, Morgan, Lawrence, Spender, Mackin, Ferguson, Thomas, Paul Edwards, Sam, Llewellyn - subs not used Whitfield, Holmes, Lee Jones, Mark Jones, Carey
Bookings: Thomas (foul 68)
Scorer: Llewellyn (80) |
| Referee: Steve Tomlin |
Attendance: 4,684 (away 229) |
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