Wycombe earned a magnificent away victory and ended Bradford’s unbeaten home record in a battling performance that really shows how far the team has progressed.
The team sheets heralded a surprise for Wycombe with the omission of last season’s leading scorer Jermaine Easter (story to follow) which gave John Sutton another chance as he lead the attack next to Scott McGleish.
The game couldn’t have started better, with just 6 minutes on the clock, Sam Stockley’s deep free kick was nestled into the corner off the head of last week’s scorer McGleish which sent the away support into dreamland, it was a sensational start at arguably the hardest place to go in the division. This was all after a near scare at the other end where debutant Frank Fielding dived brilliantly at the feet of winger Omar Daley.
However, the rest of the half was very much dominated by the Bantams. Daley was a constant pest down the right hand side and was just too hot for makeshift left back Sam Stockley to handle and when clean through after 30 minutes poked a tame effort wide when in fact a corner should have been given, the first of many baffling decisions by a referee who in truth, seemed to favour the Wanderers.
Time and time again, Leon Johnson was the heroic last line of defence; bravely blocking on numerous occasions from Peter Thorne and long shot specialist Paul Evans.
The rest of the half saw more shots from Evans flash wide, a series of long balls and set pieces and a number of decisions that had arms flailing in anger to another suspect decision by the officiating team.
Wycombe coped with the pressure well in the second half. Some sensational battling performances in the middle by Gary Holt, Stefan Oakes and Sergio Torres did not go unnoticed as time and time again their well-timed tackles in the middle denied any chance of Bradford mounting a dangerous attack.
In fairness they should have doubled the lead, Sutton was sent clear by McGleish but his lack of pace didn’t allow him to get clear of left back Paul Heckingbottom who tracked back and nipped in to get the ball with the Wycombe fans behind the goal bellowing for a penalty.
Stockley was then moved to right back as Tom Williams replaced Russell Martin and the endeavour he showed to sprint over to his normal position showed that he couldnt wait to get away from his makeshift position!
Two goalmouth scrambles could then of changed the game, the defence and most notably David McCracken blocked several shots from Guylian Ndumbu-Nsungu and Thorne amongst others before Holt thumped the ball clear of dangers. 10 minutes from time it was Wycombe’s turn; McGleish fired across the goal mouth, his shot was temporarily cleared to Holt who’s shot was hooked off the line and then Torres with an audacious bit of skill had a cheeky shot which was blocked and subsequently cleared by the veteran David Wetherall.
It looked as if the stubborn defending would be broken down when a free kick was given for a foul on Scott Phelan right on the edge of the area but Eddie Johnson’s curling effort was brilliantly clawed round the post and punched the following corner away well too.
Thorne then looked odds on to level things up but pressure from McCracken and a quickly advancing Fielding meant he rushed his shot and watched it tamely dribble past the right hand post. The 4 minutes of injury time couldn’t have gone slower but more defensive solidity meant the Blues hung on for a battling win that was well deserved despite a quite favourable referee (it was about time though!).
Player Ratings
Frank Fielding – 8
Couldn’t have asked for a better debut. Brave, commanding and a fantastic flying save to boot showed he could be a great coup by Paul Lambert.
Russell Martin – 7
Did his job, not much more I can say really!
David McCracken – 7.5
Growing in stature every game, his distribution has improved and he led the back line superbly.
Leon Johnson – 9
See ‘Star Player’.
Sam Stockley – 6.5
Daley gave him a torrid time at left back but looked back in his element at right back with some good attacking surges.
Stefan Oakes – 8
Seems a new player this season. Hard tackling and impressive tracking back made him a vital cog this afternoon.
Gary Holt – 8.5
Brilliant really. Held the midfield together at times and was extremely useful at clearing the lines at set pieces.
Sergio Torres – 8
Was a brilliant ball carrier throughout. Bradford never really handled him and on another day his through passes would have been converted.
Martin Bullock – 7
A quiet game by his standards, looked good on the ball but he saw very little of it.
Scott McGleish – 8
Effort and endeavour as usual, deserved the goal he nabbed early on.
John Sutton – 6
Was willing to attack all the headers but his lack of pace cost him a certain goal, frustrating as he seems to have the ability in him.
Tom Williams – 7
Daley rarely beat him and provided a great pacy attacking outlet late on.
Reuben Reid – 6
A lazy performance when he could have clearly exploited the slow defence.
No time to really make an impact.
