Wycombe played out an impressive 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury Town thanks to a first home goal at Adams Park for Scott McGleish.
There was only one change for the Wanderers with Sergio Torres coming in for Matt Bloomfield who had to make do with a place on the bench after not proving he was entirely match fit.
From the off it was clear both teams would employ a direct approach to the game, however some clever build up led to the first chance of the game with Martin Bullock getting to the byline and putting in a cross that should have been cleared but a stumble from Ben Herd allowed Torres to get in a shot but his near post drive didn’t test Glyn Garner.
Scott McGleish then had a smart first time shot smothered by Garner before Jermaine Easter missed the chance of the game, he may have been under pressure from Colin Murdoch but in truth he should have at least tested the keeper instead of poking his chance tamely wide of the far post.
Then against the run of play Shrewsbury grabbed a lead. McGleish was harshly penalised on the left hand side when Herd instigated the contact himself and the following free kick was headed into the far corner by a relatively unmarked Murdoch.
However, the lead lasted just over 10 minutes. Some great work by Bullock and Russell Martin down the right hand side and Martin’s wonderful curling cross was headed home emphatically by ex-Cobbler McGleish past a static Garner, it was no more than Wycombe deserved.
Martin then nearly put his name on the scoresheet but his low, long range shot was smothered well by Garner. Makeshift left back Sam Stockley was then forced off with 4 minutes of the half remaining and he was replaced by Tom Williams. The half-time whistle blew and despite a scrappy nature to the game, it was hard to grumble about the performance.
The start of the second half saw Shrewsbury begin to stamp a more significant mark on the game. Tricky winger Mark Pugh’s free kick was tipped over the crossbar superbly by a full strength Jamie Young. On 54 minutes, the ball was in the net again but Easter’s goal was chalked off for offside, it was certainly a marginal decision and it remains to be seen if it was the correct one.
The rest of the half was relatively made up of long throws and long passes. The impressive Young was forced off with a hamstring problem and was replaced by ex-Salop loanee Scott Shearer who received a stirring standing ovation from the Shrewsbury fans behind the goal he was guarding, which was quickly followed by chants of ‘Shearer, give us a goal’m definitely not a view shared by the Wanderers’ fans!
Russell Martin also paid the price before this substitution and after dealing with another physical aerial challenge he lost a tooth in the process.
Wycombe definitely looked more like scoring in the closing minutes with both Stefan Oakes and Sergio Torres firing over but it was a decent home point against a tough side who should be there or there abouts come May.
Player Ratings
Jamie Young – 7
Lots of darting runs from out of his area but he judged them all superbly, great save from Pugh’s free kick and it was sad to see him hobble off.
Russell Martin – 7.5
Started off poorly with some stray passes but grew into the game, his cross for McGleish’s header was superb.
David McCracken – 6
Still looks slightly uncomfortable at times, is reading the game better and better each week but his distribution is still way below par.
Leon Johnson – 7.5
A calming influence, covers a lot of ground and won almost every header against a physical strikeforce. Can’t say he didn’t deserve his MOTM award but I just think Scotty edged it.
Sam Stockley – 6.5
Did everything that was asked in his new found position, unfortunate to be forced off.
Gary Holt – 7
A brave battling performance again. Challenges for headers where no-one else would and his crunching tackles are a joy to watch.
Martin Bullock – 7
Tricky as usual but switching from side to side all of the second half didn’t bring out the best of him.
Sergio Torres – 7.5
Glorious in possession at times, galloped past 2 or 3 defenders on plenty of occasions and could have grabbed a winner if he kept his shot down near the end.
Stefan Oakes – 6.5
A frustrating performance, we know he can play glorious cross field passes but endlessly passing the ball backwards did him no favours today when some good deliveries from him today could have made all the difference.
Jermaine Easter – 6
Looks like he’s still sulking after having his move to Plymouth dashed. Could have learned a lot from McGleish today and was often left losing the ball in his feet in good positions.
Scott McGleish – 8
See ‘Star Player’.
Tom Williams – 6.5
Looked back on form after a sloppy performance against Brentford.
Matt Bloomfield – 6
Full of running as usual but never imposed himself.
Little to do.
Sum-Up
A good point really. Shrewsbury had a physical gameplan and they stuck to it, they’ll be up there at the end of the season but their football certainly isn’t the prettiest.
