Blues Progress as the Bees see Red

Wycombe Wanderers are through to the second round of the F.A. Cup after beating Conference Premier leaders Barnet 3-1 in a first round tie at the Hive.

That doesn’t even begin to tell the story of a typical cup tie which ebbed and flowed just like the rain and wind blowed. With both sides sitting proudly on top of their respective divisions, there was plenty of anticipation of a tight contest.

The hopes of those who travelled from the Chair Metropolis were tempered when the teamsheets were handed in and there was no sign of defender Alfie Mawson, refused permission to play in the cup by parent club Brentford.

His obvious replacement, defender Danny Rowe, was also refused permission to play by parent club Rotherham United and with Gary Doherty still not fit and Tommy Fletcher left at Chesham United, it meant gaffer Gareth Ainsworth was forced into a defensive reshuffle.

Max Kretzschmar came into the side, but played in central midfield whilst Matt McClure replaced Steven Craig in attack. Josh Scowen switched to right-back with Sido Jombati handed the unenviable task of marking former Wanderers loanee John Akinde. It was essentially still the usual 4-4-2 formation, albeit appearing a bit 3-5-2 at times.

The formation could have been anything in the first ten minutes as the visitors were all over the place. Barnet had the strong wind with them and with hoofmeister general Martin Allen in the home dugout, they were never going to be anything other than direct.

Within two minutes it had paid dividends. A long ball was flicked on by Charlie MacDonald for Akinde to race clear on goal. He rounded Matt Ingram before slotting the ball into the empty net. Jombati incurred the wrath of his team mates in the ensuing post-mortem, having seemingly been too deep.

It wasn’t so much an offside trap as an open invitation to test Matt Ingram. Fortunately for the Chairboys, he was more than up to the task. The first of a hat-trick of pivotal moments came after 13 minutes when midfielder Curtis Weston found himself through on goal with just Ingram to beat.

The 20-year-old glovesman did superbly to block his shot and then contorted his body to grab the loose ball as an opponent stole in for the kill! Ingram was at it again soon afterwards, tipping over a shot from MacDonald, and there was really only one winner at this stage.

The swirling wind was a real advantage in the first half with Ingram sending a couple of goal kicks into the stands and a Scowen throw looping into play and then out again. The Bees were unable to find a second goal however and they would soon come to regret it.

The second pivotal decision came after 33 minutes when Oliver Langford pointed to the spot after Matt McClure tumbled over defender Andy Yiadom’s challenge.

It would be fair to say the decision looked generous but Paul Hayes was in no mood to look a gift horse in the mouth and coolly beat Stack from the spot as he tucked the penalty into the bottom right-hand corner.

The third pivotal moment came two minutes into first half injury-time when former loanee Sam Togwell went flying into a challenge with his studs showing and caught Matt Bloomfield on the ankle. Langford was as unimpressed as the 854 Wycombe fans and brandished a straight red card to leave the hosts with just ten men.

The second half was played in almost monsoon conditions with the swirling wind accompanied by heavy rain. It was now in the Wanderers favour and they had three or four chances within the first ten minutes with Stack saving from Wood’s toe-poke and Jombati’s back-heel.

McClure’s twenty-yard strike was then tipped over by Stack before the the dam was breached just before the hour mark when Joe Jacobson’s wickedly delicious corner was headed powerfully home by Aaron Pierre from eight yards.

The Blues had a sense of control over the contest with the extra man although Ingram did have to deal with a couple of long-range efforts from the hosts. He did so comfortably before Wood added a third goal after 74 minutes when he tapped home McClure’s chipped right-wing cross from close range.

It prompted Ainsworth to throw on Paris Cowan-Hall, Stuart Lewis and Hogan Ephraim in the final stages and Cowan-Hall could have added a fourth goal but was unable to make a decent contact.

An afternoon that promised so much for Barnet ended in yet more misery when Yiadom was shown a straight red card for a crude challenge on Scowen in front of the dug-outs.

In the end it was a comfortable win against nine-men, but make no mistake, this was a real test and the players deserve credit for facing up to both the opposition and the conditions and coming back to win another game.

The win has come at a cost with Aaron Pierre and Josh Scowen both collecting their fifth bookings of the campaign and they will now both serve one-match bans in next weekend’s televised clash with Burton Albion.

Wycombe Wanderers are now one win away from being in the hat for the third round where hopefully a big reward for their efforts awaits.

Ratings: Ingram 7*, Scowen 5, Jombati 6, Pierre 6, Jacobson 6, Bloomfield 5 (Lewis N/A), Kretzschmar 5, Murphy 6, Wood 6, Hayes 6 (Cowan-Hall N/A), McClure 6 (Ephraim N/A).