Blues finally succumb to the drop

Wycombe Wanderers were relegated this afternoon after losing 2-0 at Leyton Orient.


The Chairboys had finally given their fans something to cheer about in the last few weeks, but it was far too late to alter their fate and after being in the bottom four virtually all season they finally fell through the trapdoor today.

This was a game Wycombe knew they had to win and they ran themselves into the ground trying, backed by a large and vociferous following who have really appreciated their team’s efforts in recent weeks.

Both sides had reason to be nervous at the start of the match but Orient were quicker out of the blocks and threatened to score on a couple of occasions before Wycombe had even settled into their stride.

Craig Woodman did well to clear a Scott McGleish shot off the line, and when O’s midfielder Adam Chambers was put clean through, it took a superb save from keeper Tom Heaton to keep the Blues on level terms.

When Wycombe did begin to apply some pressure of their own it was Kevin Betsy who looked most likely to create a worthwhile opening, but Orient were defending valiantly and chances were at a premium.

Gareth Ainsworth had a free-kick deflected behind for a corner before putting a header over the bar, but other than that, all the Chairboys could muster was a fairly tame shot from Jon-Paul Pittman.

The second-half was a different matter, with Wycombe piling forward from the outset and virtually camping in the Orient half as they probed away at the home defence in search of a breakthrough.

Ainsworth must have beaten his man and crossed from the bye-line at least half a dozen times, and Betsy was also trying every trick he knew to fashion an opening, but the O’s wouldn’t crack and the closest Wycombe came to scoring was a first-time shot from Matt Phillips which brought out a fine save from keeper Jamie Jones.

The Chairboys’ all-out attack left them vulnerable to the sucker punch and after 77 minutes Ryan Jarvis lashed the ball past Heaton after being put in the clear by a pass from McGleish.

Wycombe continued to push forward and even introduced Matt Harrold in place of defender Chris Westwood, but they still didn’t look like scoring and Orient put the final nail in their coffin when McGleish lashed home a second goal in stoppage time.

If effort was enough to win games, the Chairboys would have banked all three points today.

Unfortunately, there’s more to it than that and Orient won because they defended better and were more clinical in front of goal, which just about sums up Wycombe’s entire season.



Men Of The Match

Matt Bloomfield & Kevin Betsy were both superb and gave absolutely everything they had.


Wycombe Line-Up
Heaton, Mousinho, Hunt, Westwood (Harrold 82), Woodman, Betsy, Montrose (Phillips 55), Bloomfield, Ainsworth, Revell, Pittman (Beavon 70).