The fight for survival is heating up at the foot of League One, Wycombe Wanderers have only won once in the last 17 games in the League with a 3-2 victory over Bristol Rovers on New Year’s Day being the outlier in what has been an awful run of form for the Chairboys. Fleetwood on the other hand sat comfortably rock bottom going into the game having lost all four games so far under new manager Charlie Adam. The Cod Army’s last victory came in an emphatic 3-0 home win over Exeter City in early November but you have to go back to October 24th to find the last time they managed to win away from home with a 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers Reading.
Both teams headed into this game in desperate need of a victory to boost confidence heading into the crucial period of the season. Wycombe travelled to Highbury back in October and came away with a 4-1 win, many Wycombe fans hoped for a repeat of the away fixture but with a nosedive in results ever since it seemed this would be unlikely. Due to Wycombe’s poor run of form, Fleetwood also saw this as their best opportunity to taste victory again and try to fight their way out of the drop zone.
Lineups:
WYCOMBE (4-2-3-1) – Stryjek, Leahy, Tafazolli, Low, Grimmer, Potts, Wheeler, Campbell, Taylor, McCleary, Vokes (Subs: Ravizzoli, Jacobson, Forino, Sadlier, Kone, McCarthy, Kodua)
FLEETWOOD (3-4-3) – Lynch, Earl, Heneghan, Wiredu, Boyes, Johnston, Mayor, Lawal, Coughlan, Stockley, Omochere (Subs: McMullan, Broom, Marriott, Quitirna, Holgate, Macadam, Patterson)
First Half:
Wycombe grabbed the foothold early on and dominated possession with Chem Campbell looking lively down the left flank for the Wanderers. Fleetwood were forced to defend a couple of Wycombe free kicks early doors but managed to withstand Luke Leahy’s deliveries. It was the Cod Army who fashioned the first real chance for the game however when just six minutes in Max Stryjek was beaten in the air by Jayden Stockley whose looping header looked like it was heading straight for the net but Wycombe captain Jack Grimmer was the saviour as he hooked the ball clear on the line.
This gave Fleetwood some real confidence the onslaught of chances began, a succession of dangerous corners were flashed across the Wycombe box before the ball was recycled out to Ex-Chairboy Harry Boyes whose low-driven ball was flashed across goal and stabbed home by Promise Omochere to give Fleetwood a deserved 1-0 lead 15 minutes in. Booing from the disgruntled home supporters was audible around Adams Park as it was sloppy defending by Wycombe to allow Omochere the space at the far post.
Wycombe did wake up a little bit after this setback and were almost level when a delightful pass from West Ham loanee Freddie Potts found Garath McCleary on the right-hand side, McCleary cut the ball back across the Fleetwood’s box but Fleetwood managed to block efforts from Sam Vokes and Dale Taylor then scramble the ball to safety. McCleary was again involved 2 minutes later as he produced a carbon copy of his aforementioned move but this time the ball fell kindly to Jack Grimmer who lashed a golden opportunity over the bar. Harry Boyes then picked up a knock in a challenge and was replaced by Ryan Broom.
Fleetwood would then punish Wycombe for not taking their chances by finding the game’s second goal, Carl Johnston’s excellent deep cross to the back post again was this time met by the head of Jayden Stockley who towered above Luke Leahy and thundered the ball past Stryjek to give Fleetwood a 2 goal advantage, the defending at the back post really costing Wycombe for the second time this match.
Wycombe looked deflated and with the crowd growing increasingly frustrated the Chairboys were still unable to fashion an opening which would see them right back into the game. However, Wycombe would be handed a lifeline in stoppage time as goalscorer Promise Omochere who was already on a yellow card put in a rash challenge on David Wheeler which saw referee Lee Swabey show Omochere his second yellow card.
The hosts went in at halftime with a 2 goal deficit but full of optimism knowing that the 10 men of Fleetwood would have a mammoth task to keep Wycombe at bay in the second half. The away camp were certainly good value for their lead but knew how tricky it would be to try and hold out for 3 points with a riled-up Adams Park crowd roaring their team on.
Second Half:
Matt Bloomfield’s decided to switch things up for the second period by taking David Wheeler off and bringing young striker Richard Kone on as another avenue in attack, this meant that Dale Taylor dropped further back into central midfield. Bloomfield’s team talk clearly worked as Wycombe began the second 45 camped in the Fleetwood half looking to find that all-important goal early on to claw themselves back into the contest. The sustained pressure would be rewarded in the 51st minute as Wycombe worked a short corner nicely into Chem Campbell whose shot was blocked by the hand of Ben Heneghan and referee Lee Swabey pointed to the spot.
As expected, Wycombe’s top goalscorer and set-piece specialist Luke Leahy stepped up looking to score his 8th league goal of the season. However, Leahy’s stuttered run-up didn’t work as he scuffed the ball towards the bottom left corner and Jay Lynch guessed the right way which left him with an easy save. Leahy has now missed the last 2 penalties he has taken for Wycombe as he also was denied from the spot against Exeter on boxing day.
Minutes later, Swabey was pointing to the Fleetwood spot again as Luke Leahy’s cross was handled by Jayden Stockley whose arm was in an unnatural position. This time veteran winger Garath McCleary stepped up and sent Lynch the wrong way with an emphatic penalty into the top left. Wycombe had halved the deficit and still had 30 minutes plus stoppages to complete the comeback.
The introduction of Kieran Sadlier brought some much-needed pace to Wycombe’s attack and the Blues thought they’d equalised when Sadlier’s cross was prodded home by Richard Kone but an offside in the build-up saw the goal ruled out. Just as Wycombe fans started to get the feeling that it wasn’t going to being their day, a long punt forward from Luke Leahy was knocked down by Richard Kone into Sam Vokes whose initial effort was blocked but the rebound fell for Kone who composed himself and slotted it past Lynch to bring Wycombe level. A first league goal for the young Ivorian who recently joined the Chairboys from 9th-tier side Athletic Newham.
With the last kick of the game, Kieran Sadlier’s corner looked like it was going to creep in at the near post but Lynch just managed to smother the ball. Lee Swabey had seen enough and Wycombe were forced to settle for a point whilst Fleetwood were understandably devastated but grateful to come away with a point after a great defensive effort in the second half which was Charlie Adam’s first point in his Fleetwood reign.
Wycombe’s next match is against Brighton Under 21’s under the Adams Park lights on Wednesday night in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy Quarter Final. Next up for Fleetwood is another crucial game as they take on Port Vale at home on Saturday.
Post-Match Interview With Matt Bloomfield:
Speaking with me after the game, Wycombe Manager Matt Bloomfield on his team’s performance:
“I thought we were very poor in the first half, I think we’ve been pretty good recently we kind of shot ourselves in the foot because when we don’t get the results we deserve that brings extra emphasis and pressure on every game.”
On the fightback in the second half:
“To show the character that we did even after Luke [Leahy] missed the penalty, the boys still found more to go again.”
“I think that shows the character and the discipline in the group, I’ve been asked a couple of times if the boys are still fighting and they showed that fight today.”
On Richard Kone’s excellent display:
“Richard’s a young boy, we’re trying to keep the expectation off of him as much as we possibly can because we think a lot of him.”
“We had to fight hard to secure him on the contract we did and I was willing to do that because I wanted to protect our football club for an asset that we believe is going to be a real good asset, so I wanted to make sure that was at the forefront of our minds.”
“Richard is a really clever player and we’re really happy to have him here.”
On the formation change in the second half:
“We decided to go with an attacking 4-4-2, we were talking about doing that at halftime anyway and then with the red card it felt like the right thing to do.”
On a potential relegation battle:
“I’ve not been looking over our shoulder, I’ve been looking at the performances and trying to pick up as many results as we possibly can. We’ve got to be aware of the situation we are in but we can’t get too carried away with it.”
“It is what it is, we know where we’re at and we know what we need to do moving forward.”
On potential incoming transfers:
“If we can do a couple of bits of business in the next few days we believe we can come out of the window stronger than what we went into it”