| Matchday Essentials Click here for the report index for current season |
Wanderers came from a goal down to maintain their unbeaten League start to the season as they began life without Nathan Tyson in a 1-1 draw at Darlington. The absence of Tyson saw John Gorman leave Tommy Mooney as a lone striker in front of a five man midfield. Elsewhere new loan signings Richard Keogh and Iain Turner went straight into the starting line-up for their debuts in a Wycombe shirt. Everton 'keeper Turner came in for Frank Talia who was left out of the squad by John Gorman after being said to be upset of the move to bring in another loan 'keeper. Talia was told to take the day off to 'get his head together'.The home side included Dagenham & Redbridge striker Tresor Kandol in their line-up following the completion of a loan move the previous day. It was later revealed that Gorman had attempted to sign the 24 year old former Luton Town player as a replacement for Tyson. It came as little surprise that Wycombe looked a little out of sorts during the opening stages but despite this it was John Gorman's side who had more shots on goal. Stefan Oakes, still looking for his first Wycombe goal, fired in two or three pot shots efforts while on 23 minutes Wanderers had a glorious chance to go ahead when Matt Bloomfield shot straight at the Darlington 'keeper from less than six yards following Betsy's ball in from the right. Wanderers fell behind on 36 minutes in controversial circumstances. Betsy was forced off the ball in the Darlington penalty area but with referee Boyeson waving penalty claims away, play quickly switched to the other end with the home side breaking away down the left wing and Keogh unfortunate to head Simon Johnson's cross past fellow loanee Turner and into his own net. A goal down Wycombe then had to regroup after Charlie Griffin replaced an injured Stefan Oakes. Oakes came off worse from a bad foul on Ryan Valentine and after being booked went down the tunnel nursing what looked to be a nasty injury to the arm. A goal line clearance on 43 minutes saw Wycombe grateful to go in just a goal down at the break. Once again Wycombe showed tremendous spirit as they fought back from a goal down for the seventh time in the League this season and for the third consecutive occasion in the League since the fight back at Lincoln City. The equaliser came on 66 minutes when Betsy's chipped cross from the right of the penalty was chested down by Mooney at the opposite side of the box before the former Oxford and Swindon striker fired home with his left foot for his seventh League goal of the campaign. Griffin saw a 'goal' disallowed for offside a couple of minutes later as Wycombe began to look the side more likely to grab victory. But is was not to be for Wycombe as the game ended in more controversy when with two minutes of normal time remaining Clark Keltie pulled back Matt Bloomfield a fraction outside the edge of the penalty area and was sent off for the for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Wycombe wanted a penalty but that's not the way it works as the officials stuck to the letter of the laws. Results elsewhere saw Wycombe fall to third place in the table behind Leyton Orient and leaders Grimsby Town. Final Score - Darlington 1 Wycombe 1 Wycombe Manager John Gorman speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio after the game commented "I was proud of the boys today. I thought we were magnificent from start to finish and in the end we should have run out worthy winners. We could have at least two penalties." Expanding on the penalty clains, Gorman added "Betsy in particular was brought down blantantly and the referee in his wisdom waved play-on and they went up the other end of the field and scored a goal. It was a deflected shot and it was a shame because it was all we did wrong in the first half." And fielding the inevitable questions about the departure of Nathan Tyson, he said "Without Nathan it's not the end of the world. We'll miss him because he is a great goal scorer and we'll miss him because we love him. But we've got good players here and the lads just got on with it. They are great professionals and that is why we are up where we are in the League and will continue to be right through the season."
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
"Was
our reporter at the same game? Have your say!!"
On
This Day
All there is to say and know about Wycombe Wanderers on the Internet
HOME||||INDEX||||ROUGH GUIDE||||NEWS||||REPORTS||||FIXTURES&RESULTS||||INTERACT |