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Wycombe Wanderers 0 |
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Rushden and Diamonds 0 |
Saturday 15th October 2005
Football League 'League Two' |
 Wycombe missed the chance of regaining the top spot in 'League Two' after playing out a goalless draw with bottom but one side Rushden & Diamonds at Adams Park. Wycombe dominated for the vast majority of the game but couldn't find a way past a well organised visiting defence. Rushden even had a great chance to snatch victory in the 84th minute but Leicester City loanee Chris O'Grady fired over from less than six yards to the relief of the home crowd. It was Wanderers eight draw of the season and extends the unbeaten run at the start of the season to a new Club record of 14 games. Results elsewhere in the division saw Rochdale push Wycombe down to third spot.
Team news for Wycombe saw one change from the side that had won at Grimsby the previous week - Nathan Tyson returning from injury with Sergio Torres dropping to the bench. Rob Lee also returned on the bench after his recent lay-off with achilles problems, while Preston North End loanee 'keeper Andrew Lonergan retained his starting place to make his home debut for the Wanderers.
Lonergan was hardly called into action during a first-half that Wycombe enjoyed the majority of the possession but struggled to create any clear cut chances. Tyson seemed to pick up a knock early on and struggled to make an impact from there on in.
The best efforts at goal came from Tommy Mooney who volleyed wide from the right of the box on 24 minutes from Clint Easton's delivery, while three minutes later Kevin Betsy shot just wide with a low shot across the face of the goal. A rare Rushden attack saw Lonergan get down well on 34 minutes to gather a shot from Marcus Kelly.
 Sergio Torres replaced a concussed Matt Bloomfield at the break but it failed to inspire Wycombe to greater things. Jonny Dixon then came on as the game entered the final 15 minutes with Wycombe still desperately trying to find a way through. Mooney was frustrated again on 81 minutes when his shot from inside the box was shut out with a well timed challenge from Peter Hawkins. By this time many Wycombe followers were conceding it was just going to be one of those days.
A nervous final few minutes for Wycombe saw Lonergan block a shot with his legs from Rushden's 16 year old debutant substitute Lee Tomlin and from the resulting corner the Preston 'keeper misjudged the flight of the ball and was grateful to see O'Grady fire over after the ball was knocked back in from the left bye-line. Even then there was time for Mooney to shoot just over at the other end as Wanderers were left frustrated with another drawn game but the unbeaten run continues.
Final Score - Wycombe 0 Rushden & Diamonds 0
Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio after the game, John Gorman said he was disappointed with the result and added "We just didn't play to our full potential today. It was a frustrating day. Barry (Hunter) came here with a game plan to stop us from playing. From the first minute they were wasting a little bit of time and defending in depth." The Wycombe boss went on to say, "I'd rather score goals and win the game 3-2 and have a real effort, rather than today when we really huffed and puffed and it was one of those days when it wasn't going to happen." Gorman also suggested that the tactics of the visitors to Adams Park was making it difficult for his side, adding "We look like winning games with the style of play away from home because the other team attacks us a bit more and we have a chance to open them up. Where as, at home, if we don't get an early goal it does get a bit frustrating."
Meanwhile, Rushden boss Barry Hunter commented "It was a good point, a very good point and hopefully an enjoyable game to watch. In the early stages they did everything we expected they would do and they played some good football but we stuck to our game plan and hung in there."
Wycombe: Lonergan, Senda, Easton, Johnson, Williamson, Oakes (sub 73 Dixon), Bloomfield (sub HT Torres), Burnell (sub 88 Lee), Betsy, Mooney, Tyson - subs not used Talia, Stonebridge
Bookings: none
Scorers: none |
Rushden: Woodman, Gier, Hawkins, Gulliver, Dempster, Pearson (sub 65 Grainger), Savage, McCafferty, Kelly, Broughton (sub 74 Tomlin), O'Grady - subs not used: Young, Nicholls, Okuonghae
Bookings: McCafferty (foul 41)
Scorers: none |
| Referee: Mr R Olivier
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Attendance: 5,231 (away end 245) |
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