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Wycombe Wanderers 3 |
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Chester City 3 |
Saturday 1st October 2005
Football League 'League Two' |
There was another goal fest at Adams Park as Wanderers drew 3-3 with Chester City. Wycombe twice came from behind with goals from Tommy Mooney and Roger Johnson before taking a 50th minute lead when Mooney struck home his second goal of the day. However, the visitors hit back on the hour mark through Michael Branch before a hectic finish where both sides came close to snatching a winner. Mooney went closest for Wycombe in the 75th minute with a volley from the left side of the penalty area, while Branch hit the cross bar in stoppage time. It would have been cruel for either side to have lost this game with results elsewhere seeing Wycombe drop to third place behind Leyton Orient and leaders Grimsby Town who Wycombe visit on Friday 7th October.
An unchanged Wycombe line-up from the one that had beaten Wrexham during the week found themselves a goal down after just ten minutes. It was a scrappy affair after Johnson had sliced an attempted clearance into his own penalty area and Stuart Drummond thumped the loose ball home off the underside of the Valley End crossbar.
Nathan Tyson glanced a header wide after 15 minutes but it could have got worse for Wycombe three minutes later when Ryan Lowe shot just wide after the visitors had exposed Wanderers defence down the left wing. However, Wycombe drew level on 24 minutes when Sergio Torres dinked in a left footed cross from the left-bye and Mooney cracked home the ball at the far post.
 Wycombe fell behind again on 36 minutes after the visitors broke down the left wing with Carl Regan delivering a low cross that Branch was first to connect and convert from close range. More questions were asked of the Wycombe defence on 42 minutes when Branch was allowed space on the left and his angled shot beat the desperate dive of Frank Talia before hitting the far post and then being collected by the grateful Wanderers 'keeper.
With that scare out of the way, Wanderers clawed their way back into the game again just a minute before the break when Stefan Oakes' free-kick from just to the left of midfield saw Johnson out jump all in the box and direct his header back across the face of the goal and into the far corner of the net.
Wanderers came out for the second-half with Tyson. It was later reported that Wycombe's leading scorer had suffered a calf strain. Betsy took Tyson's place up front with Joe Burnell coming into midfield. It prompted an impressive burst of pressure from Wycombe and there was due reward on 50 minutes when Betsy forced his way to the left bye-line and then crossed for Mooney who flashed the ball into the near corner goal to give Wycombe the lead for the first time and the chance of fourth successive Football League victory for the first time since March 1994.
However, this time it was the visitors who hit back as Wycombe failed to deal with a long throw from the right by Scott Niven and Branch was there again to fire the ball home.
The points were now there for the taking for either side. Mooney nearly completed his hat-trick on 75 minutes with a fierce volley from the left of goal that brought a fine block from Chester 'keeper Chris McKenzie. But it was Chester who looked most likely to grab all three points and Wycombe followers breathed a sigh in the second minute of stoppage time when another Niven long throw, this time from the left, saw Branch's shot hit the cross before being cleared and so retain Wycombe's unbeaten start to the season.
Final Score - Wycombe 3 Chester City 3
Wycombe: Talia, Senda, Easton, Johnson, Williamson, Oakes, Bloomfield (sub 77 Stonebridge), Torres (sub 67 Dixon), Betsy, Tyson (sub HT Burnell), Mooney - subs not used Martin, Williams
Bookings: Burnell (foul 70)
Scorers: Mooney (24,50), Johnson (44) |
Chester City: MacKenzie, McNiven, Regan, Dimech, Artell, Lowe (sub 63 Blundell), Drummond, Curtis, Davies, Branch, Richardson (sub 84 Walker) - subs not used Vaughan, El Kholti, Bertos
Bookings: Lowe (foul 26), Dimech (foul 32), Artell (dissent 45)
Scorers: Drummond (10), Branch (35,60) |
| Referee: Mr K Wright |
Attendance: 5,145 (away end 392) |
Report dedicated to the memory of Ted Powell, the former Wanderers player and Manager, who died aged 67 on Thursday 22nd September following a long illness with Alzheimers disease. Powell spent the 1970/71 and 1971/72 seasons at Wycombe where he was virtually ever present during consecutive Isthmian League Championship season's. He totalled 97 appearances for Wycombe before eventually returning to his former Club Sutton United. However, he later had a brief spell as Manager of Wycombe during the 1976/77 season before moving into coaching with the Malawi national side. He also went on to work for the FA and Tottenham Hotspur where he earnt great respect with those who had contact with him.
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