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Southend United 1 |
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Wycombe Wanderers 2 |
Saturday 11th September 2004
Football League 'League Two' |
Wanderers went top of 'League Two' after coming from a goal down to beat Southend United 2-1 at Roots Hall. The victory came after chances had been limited for both sides during the first half. However, it was Southend who took the lead on 42 minutes through a Mark Bentley header. Wycombe rarely looked like getting back into the game until a typical burst of pace from Nathan Tyson saw the former Reading striker beat the offside trap and level matters on the hour with a low angled shot. From then on the points were up for grabs and a wonder strike from Danny Senda from the right won the match with eight minutes left on the clock, leaving a decent travelling support from Wycombe with plenty to celebrate.
Team news saw Tony Adams bring in Roger Johnson again at his unfavoured left back role due to Gary Silk's suspension owing to his red card the previous week versus Oxford United. Adam Birchall returned to the starting line-up in favour of fellow loanee Bas Savage while First Year Apprentice Ikechi Anya was included on the bench for the first time in a senior fixture.
It was a formation that created few chances in a disappointing opening 45 minutes for the Wanderers. The closest Wycombe came to scoring arrived on 20 minutes when a ball delivered from the left bye-line by Birhall saw Tyson's first time effort at the far post cut out by Adam Barrett. As the half progressed the home side began to enjoy more of the possession and Carl Pettefer went inches from touching in a low cross from the left on 32 minutes. Then after an intense spell of pressure and with the half drawing to a close, it was Bentley who raced in to angle a header past Talia following a cross from the right by Carl Pettefer. It was difficult at this point to see a way back for Wycombe.
Half-time Southend 1 Wycombe 0
The game changed from Wanderers point of view on 53 minutes following the introduction of Bas Savage for Roger Johnson. The switch saw Wanderers go to three at the back and introduce more players into midfield. The move paid off when Keith Ryan's through ball found Tyson and despite protests calling for offside, the chance was finished in style past Darryl Flahaven in The Shrimpers goal. Tyson almost scored again five minutes later but this time Flahaven managed to get down and save.
Both sides now capable of victory and The Shrimpers had their golden chance to take the points on 76 minutes when Pettefer curled a shot from the right corner of the penalty area pass Talia but to the relief of Wycombe followers it crashed off the far post and rebounded to safety. Six minutes later Senda picked up possession down the right following a pass from Birchall and with the goal in sight he looked up and fired a cracker into the top corner of the goal from around 20 yards and all three points were heading back to Buckinghamshire.
Final Score - Southend 1 Wycombe 2
Speaking after the game to BBC Three Counties Radio Tony Adams said "It was a bit disjointed first half and I felt a bit sorry for young Roger Johnson at left back, we missed Gary Silk today. But the lad's coped and Roger gave everything but we were disjointed and we were taking too much pressure first half. We sorted a few things out in the second half and we looked much better, got the goals and the result is what it is but performance wise we know what we are working with. There is a long way to go and it wasn't a fantastic performance. They did OK today and it's always nice to win when you did OK."
Meanwhile, Southend were annoyed with Wycombe's first goal which some claimed showed up as being offside on a video replay. Shrimpers Manager Steve Tilson commented "I'm disappointed with the linesman for the first goal. I felt we totally dominated the match from start to finish." He went on to say that the goal knocked the stuffing out of his side and suggested that Wycombe had the luck on the day, adding "There were lots of examples where out luck isn't going for us. Pettefer has hit the woodwork and if that had been them it would have gone in. Wycombe have gone top now, we are that close from being a top six side but we need to bury our chances otherwise we will always be fighting to win games." Goalscorer Mark Bentley also said "Nathan Tyson is a good quick player and has done well in the league above last year. We knew about him and have given him a few yards, whether it was off side or not we have got to deal with him. They (Wycombe) were organised today, Tony Adams has obviously taken what he knows from his Arsenal days and instilled it into Wycombe but we should be up there with them because we did everything except finish them off."
Wycombe: Talia, Uhlenbeek, Nethercott, Williamson, Johnson (sub 53 Savage), Senda, Ryan, Easton, Birchall, Tyson, Stonebridge - subs not used Williams, Ahmed, Dixon, Anya
Bookings: Williamson (foul 27)
Scorers: Tyson (60), Senda (82) |
Southend: Flahavan, Jupp (sub 87 Edwards), Prior, Barrett, Wilson, Pettefer, Bentley, Hunt, Gower (sub 84 Gray), Dudfield, Bramble (sub 83 Broughton) - subs not used: Corbett, Kightly
Bookings: Jupp (87 foul)
Scorers: Bentley (42) |
| Referee: P Taylor |
Attendance: 4,771 (away 537) |
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