It was another case of much effort but no points for Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park this afternoon when Charlton Athletic skipper Nicky Bailey scored a 77th minute winner to give the visitors a hard earned 2-1 victory.
Wycombe manager Gary Waddock made one enforced change to the side that drew with Leeds United last Saturday. Stuart Green replaced the departed Tommy Doherty and the Chairboys lined up as follows:
Shearer
Hunt Hinshelwood Westwood Woodman
Green (65) Mousinho Davies
Beavon (65)
Harrold Pittman
Subs: Young Oliver Phillips(65) Betsy(65) Harris Fitchett
The Blues started the match in lively fashion and should have taken an early lead when Stuart Beavon jinked his way through the Charlton defence before spoiling all his hard work by shooting wide when one-on-one with Addicks’ keeper Rob Elliot.
The Chairboys started in the same formation as last week against Leeds and were playing some nice passing football in the early stages with striker Jon-Paul Pittman next to try his luck on goal when he collected a fine through ball inside the Charlton box only to screw his shot wide of the post from a tight angle.
Sadly, Wycombe’s promising start was undone by sloppy defending after only 11 minutes when Charlton’s Lloyd Sam collected the ball on the right flank and wriggled his way into the box before laying it back to Jonjo Shelvey who was totally unmarked in acres of space at the edge of the area and gratefully fired it home.
The remainder of the first half was fairly evenly matched with Charlton forcing a couple of saves from Wycombe keeper Scott Shearer, while at the other end Lewis Hunt tried a long range effort and Chris Westwood found himself the unlikely recipient of a Harrold knockdown but could only muster a weak shot which didn’t trouble Elliot.
Charlton had plenty of chances to extend their lead at the start of the second half but they couldn’t take them and paid for it after 63 minutes when Wycombe put together a good move down the right which ended with Pittman spinning onto a loose ball in the penalty area and firing home his 9th goal of the season.
Blues manager Gary Waddock immediately introduced Kevin Betsy and Matt Phillips in place of Stuart Beavon and Stuart Green as he changed to a more rigid 4-4-2 formation. Beavon had again shown plenty of quality in his now familiar link-man role.
With the seemingly tireless John Mousinho driving them on, Wycombe pushed forward in search of a desperately needed three points but it was the visitors who won the game when Bailey fired home following a prolonged scramble in the penalty area, during which Wycombe spurned several chances to effectively clear the danger.
The Blues continued to fight, but apart from a Chris Westwood header which flashed well wide of the post, they never really created another clear-cut chance.
Opinion
Hinshelwood and Hunt were the pick of the defence with Hunt having a particularly good first half during which he regularly contributed to the attack.
John Mousinho’s work rate made him the pick of midfield, with Scott Davies having a decent game but failing to find the excellent form he showed when he first arrived.
In attack, Beavon continued to link-up play and create chances for others while Pittman again proved that he’s Wycombe’s only reliable goalscorer.
Man Of The Match
John Mousinho
Share this article
Related Articles
