If we win today, we’ll go top. Portsmouth aren’t playing, presumably because of international call-ups, so we have a golden opportunity this afternoon. In recent seasons we’ve usually duffed it when a crucial game comes along but we’re on a run of eight wins in a row and have developed the ability to win without playing at all well for parts of the game. The fact that we can count on more than five players to regularly get a goal makes us a dangerous outfit. Power will surely play at least some part today and if he can handle the niggling nature of this league and stay on the pitch, he’ll be a great asset while Catts can’t be far off recovery and perhaps will play. I know very little about Wycombe but they’re currently in lower mid-table and have conceded twenty-four goals so far. If we lose, Peterborough are at home to Bradford and you’ve got to fancy them getting three points there so they’ll overtake us. Of course our winning run has to end sometime but I don’t think that’ll happen today and my match prediction is a 3-1 win.
When I got the team news around 2.30, it looked like an unchanged starting eleven while Maja and Power were on the bench. It was great to know we had such strong back-up. I tuned into SAFSEE and there was a lot of noise coming from the crowd. We started brightly and won the first corner in the fifth minute but Wycombe countered and Onyedinma sounded a threat. Not much happened in the opening quarter of an hour and commentator Gary Bennett said we were playing too many long high balls and should keep to our passes on the ground. The crowd had gone quiet and needed something to cheer about. McGeouch and Honeyman had hardly had a mention so far and we needed to get them buzzing while Wycombe sounded like they were growing in confidence. Next thing we did hear about Honeyman but it was for him being yellow-carded for a foul on Williams. Wycombe went ahead on corners 2-1 just before the half-hour but news from elsewhere brought some cheer as Bradford took the lead against Peterborough. Bennett said we just weren’t at the races but it still remained goalless and hopefully a half-time talking-to by Ross would bring some improvement. Wycombe got their fourth corner and we’d had a couple of narrow escapes so we seemed to be holding on and I was looking at the clock hoping for half-time to come soon. In the fortieth minute we won a free-kick a few yards from the goal-line after good work by Maguire and at last had something to cheer about but it was immediately cleared. McGeady had a great chance just afterwards but he drove his effort wide. We livened up in a little in the closing stages but this had been a poor nervous performance by us and Wycombe had clearly had the better of things.
Would there be an early substitution for us? Maybe Power and Maja on? It didn’t happen but no doubt Jack Ross would have injected some vim into them. We started brightly again with a good run and a dink from McGeady but, as so often, Sinclair didn’t quite reach it. We were showing much more intent and won six corners early on. McGeouch and Sinclair were replaced by Power and Maja nine minutes into the half and there was loud cheering. I felt both changes would be enough for us to nick a win. Maja’s first effort was fingertipped out for a corner and that showed promise of better to come. So, it remained 0-0 at the hour-mark but we’d done much better while Wycombe had barely had a sniff at the other end with the ubiquitous Onyedinma not getting a mention at all. Elsewhere Peterborough equalized at home to Bradford. In the sixty-seventh minute we went behind when the previously quiet Onyedinma had too much time at the edge of our area to take a touch and smash it into the roof of the net. Well, we just had to get into our much practised come-from-behind routine again. We still had another sub to use and I agreed with Bennett that we should bring on Oviedo as he can make things happen in the box. There was a great roar from the crowd and I thought we’d got a penalty but it was a free-kick just on the edge of the box. The kick hit the wall but we got a corner that came to nothing. Oviedo replaced James with a quarter of an hour left and his arrival gave me hope of a draw. We soon created some decent chances and won corners but the clock was ticking away, too quickly now. With six minutes to go I was up pacing about when Honeyman fed Maja and he picked his spot to put us level. The crowd were roaring away and there’d be a few minutes of stoppage-time with Wycombe’s players taking an eternity to shuffle off when they were subbed. We piled on the pressure with Oviedo being at the centre of things and Power had a great drive that was well-saved by Ingram in goal. A roar from our fans heralded five minutes of stoppage-time being announced. Wycombe had their backs to the wall most of the time but Flanagan had to make a crucial block to deny them the winner and it finally finished 1-1.
This was a decidedly below par performance from us overall but we improved in the second-half. I should be feeling disappointed but for the moment at any rate I feel relieved that we got that late equalizer. Peterborough only drew as well so that’s made it all a bit better. See you at Walsall.
