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Wycombe Wanderers 1 |
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Carlisle United 1 |
Saturday 6th August 2005
Football League 'League Two' |
With expectations levels running at a high, Wanderers had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw with Carlisle United on the opening day of the 2005/6 Football League season. In a familiar pattern of events, Wycombe had the better chances early on but then conceded on 17 minutes when Derek Holmes turned inside the box to shot past Frank Talia. John Gorman's side hit back on 37 minutes when Tommy Mooney curled in a delightful effort from the right wing and into the far top corner of the Valley End net. Roger Johnson hit the woodwork twice before the break, while the second period saw Wycombe have the better chances but unable to find the back of the net.
Wanderers' side included three players making their Football League debut's in a Wycombe shirt. They were Kevin Betsy, Stefan Oakes and Tommy Mooney. All three had solid starts as Wycombe dictated the opening exchanges. Mooney went close twice with shots from the left flank, while Mike Williamson saw a header saved at the near post following an Oakes corner from the left. Nathan Tyson shot wide on the run before Wycombe were punished with a neat move from Carlisle where Zigor Aranalde played in Holmes for the visitors goal on 17 minutes.
 Mooney's equaliser eight minutes before the break was a delightful curling effort from out on the right edge of the penalty area and all United 'keeper Anthony Williams could do was to watch the ball sail into far top corner of the net.
The goal shifted Wycombe up a gear and Roger Johnson will count himself unlucky not to have claimed a place on the scoresheet - striking a fierce volley against the crossbar on 43 minutes and then seeing a spectacular diving header end with the same result during first half stoppage time.
 Sadly Wycombe couldn't maintain the momentum sufficiently during the second-half to claim all three points. Oakes went close with a free-kick on 67 minutes and Betsy hit a shot against the post eight minutes later but the visitors held out with relative ease for their first point on their return to the Football League.
Final Score - Wycombe 1 Carlisle 1
 Speaking to the media after the game John Gorman commented, "I knew it would be a hard game after they just came into our league. The euphoria and their supporters making the long trip made it a big day for them and for us." The Wycombe boss added, "I thought we deserved all three points but I'll settle for one. Carlisle frustrated us but we knew it would be a hard game. We passed the ball well but in the second half our final ball let us down. It was hard to leave Bloomfield out today but I thought Mooney and Lee ran the show."
Meanwhile, Carlisle Manager Paul Simpson said "I thought we started the game very well. The first 30 minutes, I thought we were excellent and put them under a lot of pressure, and if we had been a little bit cuter we could have got more in and around the box. We took our foot off a little bit and had to battle in the second half and defend. But it's a good point for us in the end because people thought we would come here and get turned over."
John Gorman concluded "I'd have rather won but at least we didn't throw the game away. It was obviously the first game of the season and everybody could be excused for being a bit rusty."
Wycombe: Talia, Senda, Easton, Williamson, Johnson, Betsy, Lee, Oakes (sub 71 Bloomfield), Burnell (sub 87 Stonebridge), Tyson, Mooney (sub 87 Dixon) - subs not used: Williams, Nethercott
Bookings: none
Scorers: Mooney (37) |
Carlisle: Williams, Arnison, Livesey, Gray, Aranalde, Murphy, A Murray (sub 86 Simpson), Billy, McGill, Holmes (sub 71 Nade), Hawley - subs not used: G Murray, Westwood, Grand
Bookings: Murphy (45 foul), Billy (56 dissent), Aranalde (67 foul)
Scorers: Holmes (17) |
| Referee: S Dorr |
Attendance: 5,270 (781 away end) |
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