This may look like a regular 1-1 pre-season bore draw but it will be remembered for a moment of magic from Sergio Torres.
When the Wycombe players warmed up you couldn’t help but feel sorry for a desolate Leon Crooks who was often seen training well away from the rest of the players and he is in the extremely unenviable position of knowing he isn’t really wanted at the club and it must be one of the lowest feelings you can possibly experience.
The game was a fairly drab affair throughout and this was reflected by the low crowd with only the Wanderers’ fans doing their best to create some kind of atmosphere with various jibes to the Oxford fans about the recent floods in the area.
The first half was pretty limited on action with Scott Shearer saving well from Rob Duffy before Alex Jeannin sent the rebound out the ground and over the first row of cars in the car park behind. Wycombe’s first significant chance didn’t really come until the generous amount of first half injury time when Chris Palmer’s deep cross was headed towards the bottom corner before Billy Turley’s outstretched hand tipped it round the upright.
The first half did little to live up to it’s ‘friendly’ tag with Oxford midfielder Eddie Hutchinson leaving his boot in at every opportunity and significantly taking offence to an early first half challenge from Andre Boucaud.
The second half was when the game sprung into action. Wycombe replaced David McCracken, Andre Boucaud and Tom Williams with Russell Martin, Stefan Oakes and most significantly of all, Sergio Torres.
The moment that this game will be remembered for occured just 3 minutes after he arrived. Sergio robbed Phil Trainer of the ball a good 30 yards out on the left hand side and accelerated away from him after recovering from a stumble. He then left 3 Oxford defenders trailing in his wake before dummying and sidestepping Billy Turley leaving him with an empty goal to slot the ball into. This was a real ‘I was there’ moment and the Wycombe fans’ celebrations were fairly low key possibly in awe of what they had just seen. It was a goal to grace any game and I for one, can’t wait to see it again on video. When the fans had taken in the moment the chant of ‘Who needs Tevez – We’ve got Sergio’ rang out from the corner of the stadium.
The rest of the game was simply the ‘Torres show’ his fancy footwork ran the midfield and whenever an opposition player got near he was left wondering which way Torres was going to go next. Whenever he even got near the ball he was urged to replicate his goal and he tried to oblige with as many of his circus tricks as possible.
Matt Bloomfield nearly doubled the lead 2 minutes later but his shot was well blocked by the charging Oxford defence. Shearer was called into action again though when Marvin Robinson drifted away at the far post but his header was brilliantly turned onto the bar and over by the Scottish shotstopper who was growing in stature throughout the match.
However, his clean sheet was not to last and like so often in pre-season, a dead ball situation was Wycombe’s undoing. A free kick by Alex Jeannin was bravely headed home into the bottom corner by Barry Quinn leaving Shearer rooted to the spot.
The game fizzed out after that really but it was Wycombe who should have won it when Jermaine Easter was brilliantly put through by Torres, who has now playing in a forward role but Easter’s powerful drive was straight at Turley.
All in all, an encouraging performance. There weren’t many clear openings but when we have more authority in the midfield when Gary Holt returns, the signs look good for a prosperous season.
Player Ratings
Scott Shearer
Still unsure on him, was very hesitant with his claims and punches in the first half but there’s no faulting his shot stopping at all and his second half performance showed things were on the up – 7/10.
Sam Stockley
Looked very good to me. Held his position all the time and knew exactly when to get forward and was regularly getting back and putting stops to Oxford attacks – 7.5/10.
Chris Palmer
Impressive at left back I have to say, his deep crosses proved an asset at times but his defensive attributes were rarely tested – 7/10
David McCracken
Another one who is growing in stature, definitely makes a worthy captain and I believe he’ll do a very good job this year – 7/10.
Leon Johnson
Brilliant in the air all night and dealt with all the high balls that came this way, will be a fine replacement before Antwi and Williamson return – 7/10.
Andre Boucaud
Promising again, looks more like Anthony Grant and shows he plays with a bit of passion with various confrontations with Eddie Hutchinson throughout the first half, his passing game just gets better and better – 7.5/10
Matt Bloomfield
Never stopped running all night and his forward runs were rarely dealt with by the Oxford defence, some rash tackles let him down on occasions but he should be a starter next Saturday – 7.5/10.
Tom Williams
A fairly quiet game for him, wasn’t as prepared to take the full back on this time round and was only given 45 minutes – 6/10.
Martin Bullock
Did well enough, surprisingly nippy player and knows his way round the full back but too often goes to the byline instead of playing the early ball – 6.5/10.
John Sutton
Seemed very average to me, his hold up play was first class as usual but in a game full of so little chances he didn’t get in the correct positions to make things happen – 6/10.
Jermaine Easter
Did well leading the line throughout, his strength was often too much for Oxford to deal with and maybe in another game, he would have slammed that injury time chance straight in the bottom corner – 7/10.
Sergio Torres
See Star Player, it may only be a 45 minute showing but…….10/10, he simply never put a foot wrong.
Leon Crooks
Thought he was very solid at the back, his fetching long passes were often on target and again dealt with everything that came his way, I still think he is good cover in the squad – 7/10.
All did what was asked of them really, nothing more, nothing less – 6.5/10
