Wycombe Wanderers crashed to a miserable 3-0 defeat to Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.
The visitors can have no complaints at the result after conceding three goals in the space of a dozen minutes as striker Matty Taylor notched a hat-trick.
Wycombe Wanderers went into the game unbeaten in their last half-a-dozen matches in all competitions and on the back of a 2-2 draw at home with Portsmouth. Manager Gareth Ainsworth made just one change to his starting line-up and that was enforced upon him. Defender Aaron Pierre collected his fifth booking of the season at the weekend and served a one-match ban. He was replaced by defender Danny Rowe, who played at right-back.
Midfielder Stephen McGinn returned to the squad having recovered from his recent knock which meant Ainsworth could name a full quota of seven players on the bench. Brentford loanees James Ferry and Jermaine Udamaga were both left at home, luckily for them!
Whilst there were no surprises in the team selection, the formation was something else. Ainsworth switched to 4-2-3-1, as follows:
Matt Ingram
Danny Rowe – Jason McCarthy – Anthony Stewart – Sido Jombati
Luke O’Nein – Matt Bloomfield
Michael Harriman – Sam Wood – Paul Hayes
Garry Thompson.
It seems likely that the change in formation was designed to deal with Rovers 3-5-2 formation:
Lee Nicholls
Daniel Leadbitter – James Clarke – Tom Lockyer – Tom Parkes – Lee Brown
Ollie Clarke – Stuart Sinclair – Lee Mansell
Matty Taylor – Rory Gaffney
Recent history has spawned something of a rivalry between the two clubs but the only lightning on show was from the start made by the hosts. It was epitomised in the opening 30 seconds when Lee Mansell shrugged off the weak challenge from Sam Wood and ran at the visitors defence before hitting a drive which Matt Ingram did superbly to tip over the bar.
Within 90 seconds Rory Gaffney, on loan from Cambridge United, was allowed to run across the face of the box thanks to a couple of half-hearted challenges before slicing his shot wide of the target. Matty Taylor then fired a shot straight at Ingram.
It appeared the Wanderers were in for a long evening, but they saw out Rovers’ opening salvo and enjoyed their best spell of the evening during the next 10-15 minutes. The high point came on the quarter hour when the ball bounced for Wood and he crashed a left-foot shot against the outside of the left-hand upright, with home goalkeeper Lee Nicholls beaten.
The game then became just so very scrappy. It was attritional. It was poor and it was so very dull. The visitors were the bigger culprits, treating possession as if it were a crime, rarely taking more than one touch, launching the ball into orbit and seldom playing a pass to a team-mate.
The home side weren’t much better but did at least pose some threat before the break with right-back Daniel Leadbitter cutting in from the right before shooting straight at Ingram. Gaffney and Taylor both had shooting opportunities on the edge of the box but were unable to hit the target.
At the other end both Hayes and Wood failed to trouble Nicholls with long-range efforts which went well wide. Referee Brendan Malone blew the half-time whistle which came as a blessed relief to all inside the Memorial Stadium.
The greatest relief will have been felt by the ball itself, which must have been begging to be put out of its misery. It must have spent the interval fantasising about being caressed by a boot which sought to bring pleasure rather than pain.
A shrill of Mr Malone’s whistle signalled the start of the second half and it was just more of the same. The concept of football as any kind of art form was rendered meaningless. Rovers continued to have the better of the possession and territory but looked devoid of ideas.
The pivotal moment came within ten minutes when a hoick forward from a Wycombe defender bounced kindly for Thompson, who momentarily found himself goal-side of his marker, Tom Lockyer, and with just Nicholls to beat. Alas he froze, as if his legs had stopped working, trapped in treacle or his opponent had reigned him using an invisible harness.
The chance was lost and soon so was the match. Rovers head coach Darrell Clarke pro-actively turned to his bench and replaced Ollie Clarke with winger Billy Bodin. Barely two minutes later the deadlock was broken. Matt Bloomfield’s challenge on Mansell appeared to be a clean one but Mr Malone disagreed.
A training ground routine saw Taylor given a clear sight of goal and he made no mistake, smashing a right-footed shot which clipped the underside of the crossbar before hitting the net, giving Ingram no chance whatsoever.
Ainsworth’s response was immediate as he went all Ted Rogers on the touchline, twisting his fingers to signal a switch back to a 4-4-2 formation with Hayes pushed up in support of Thompson. It was rendered utterly futile within two minutes.
Mr Malone’s whistle shrieked again for Wood’s trip on Bodin. Whilst the Wanderers turned their backs and moaned, Stuart Sinclair seized the moment, playing a quick free-kick to Taylor, who was met with no resistance as he smashed a shot past Ingram from just inside the box. You’d like to think that professional footballers would have learnt to play to the whistle, but alas no.
And that was it, game over. At least for the visitors, who lost all heart and spirit. There was no fight or pride left as they waved a white flag and collapsed to a miserable defeat. The only question which remained was just how many the home side would win by. The away fans prayed for rain, lightning, even a plague of locusts but they remained unanswered.
It would have been embarrassing had it not been for Ingram, who pulled off a miraculous save to deny Taylor his hat-trick just two minutes later when the striker met Bodin’s teasing right-wing cross with a downward header from six yards at the far post.
Ingram made a more comfortable save at his near post from Gaffney before Ainsworth’s forlorn attempt to rescue something from the game. The out-of-favour Aaron Amadi-Holloway replaced the out-of-position and out-of-sorts Captain Paul Hayes whilst the anonymous Gozie Ugwu replaced the anonymous Garry Thompson.
Ryan Sellers also came on for the out-of-form Sam Wood but it made no difference whatsoever. Even Ingram could do nothing after 72 minutes as Taylor claimed the match-ball with a goal which summed up the Chairboys’ dismal display.
A defensive calamity began when Leadbitter won an aerial challenge to head the ball into the area. Anthony Stewart hesitated as he saw Danny Rowe to his right and the pair let the ball bounce which gave Taylor the invitation to steal in and hook the ball past a bemused Ingram and into the net under Rowe’s feeble challenge.
It was the kind of defending you would expect to see from two hungover centre-halves on a park pitch on a Sunday morning and not from two professional footballers, but alas no, this was the reality. They couldn’t wait to get off the pitch.
Ingram had to make yet another fine save before the end, palming away Mansell’s curling effort for a corner. Paris Cowan-Hall and Jermaine Easter both came off the bench for Rovers, as if to remind the away fans what a goalscorer looks like. Mr Malone cruelly played five entirely unnecessary minutes of stoppage time before finally putting the visitors out of their misery.
It’s very difficult to take any positives from such a lamentable performance. We failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes. It is the most pitiful statistic on what was an evening of abject failure. The most damning verdict coming from an opposition fan that we looked like Yeovil Town.
All our failings were laid bare and the management team will be picking over them during the next few days ahead of an unenviable trip to Bermondsey. The magic of the cup will have to overfloweth if they are to make amends against Millwall.
However having battled with Bristol Rovers for our Football League survival just over 18 months ago, at least last night’s defeat was only a case of Goodnight Irene instead of Goodnight Vienna!
Ratings:
Ingram 7* – Produced some marvellous saves and prevented a mauling.
Rowe 4 – Appeared bereft of confidence and a little lost.
McCarthy 5 – The best of a bad defence, showed calmness and composure
Stewart 5 – His hesitancy for the third goal blotted an otherwise decent showing
Jombati 5 – A square peg in a round hole and it showed.
O’Nien 4 – Made no impact whatsoever and fell asleep for the second goal
Bloomfield 4 – The game completely passed him by.
Harriman 6 – Bundles of energy and was the only player who threatened to create anything.
Wood 4 – Came the closest to scoring but is woefully out of form
Hayes 4 – Wasted on the left and failed to lead as Captain
Thompson 4 – Was the complete opposite to Taylor, posed absolutely no threat and never looked like scoring.
Subs:
Sellers 4 – Anonymous.
Holloway 5 – Tried in vain to create something but the game was already up.
Ugwu 4 – Contributed nothing.
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