I really liked being top of the league even if it was for only a few days but we could be top again this afternoon if we manage to get another three points. Rotherham are in cup action just down the road from me at QPR and a win would put us ahead of them and also create a seven point gulf between us and Wycombe. The team performance against Sheffield Wednesday and the atmosphere were top notch and you can easily see why new boy Hume decided to join us and not other more highly placed clubs. Having Hume and probably Xhemajli in the squad will be a great boost after suffering so many long-term injuries, not that the others were doing at all badly of course. After several seasons of watching us passing it sideways and backwards while dithering around the half-way line it's been so great to see especially Pritchard, Dajaku, Neil and Gooch putting together swift incisive attacks that cut the opposition defences to ribbons. Wycombe have had mixed fortunes of late, winning just two out of their last five, and we beat them 3-1 back in August but they're a handful at home and our defence will really have to maintain their recent high standard, with Vokes being the main danger-man. A draw would be a good result and though I think we may well concede one today, my match prediction is a battling 2-1 win for us.
I got the team-news just before noon and the first thing that leapt out was that Patterson was in goal. Wright and Dajaku were also missing from the squad, perhaps due to Covid, while Xhemajli and a Hume (I wasn't sure which one) as well as the recalled Diamond were among the subs.
I tried to get the match commentary on SAFSEE but it wasn't working so all I could do was get Radio Five Live on and hope for snippets while following live texts on BBC Sport. We started very well by taking the lead in the third minute, a cross being headed home from the centre of the box by Stewart (Radio 5) or an own goal by Stockdale (BBC Sport) – I didn't care either way. Patterson was first tested four minutes later but he saved a shot from Vokes and I hope that boosted his confidence. Next thing the SAFSEE commentary page made a bleepy noise so perhaps things were stirring there... They weren't. Wycombe equalised in the thirteenth minute when a Scowen pass found Mehmeti and his shot from outside the box went into the bottom left-hand corner. So that's what happened to Scowen. I'd forgotten all about him. Everything went quiet on the news front till on twenty-five minutes Radio 5 said the match had settled down after a blistering opening – Mehmeti had had an effort on target for them and Prichard had one for us. Scowen had also been yellow-carded. Next thing Pritchard fed Gooch and his left-footed shot was blocked. In the thirty-sixth minute Winchester conceded a corner and when it came across Vokes headed in from close-range to put Wycombe in the lead. We immediately battled back with an Embleton shot being blocked and Scowen conceding a corner. Six minutes to the break we were level when Embleton crossed and Stewart hit home a right foot shot from very close range. The fouls were coming thick and fast and in stoppage-time Jacobson became their second player to be booked, which was all to the good. The half finished 2-2 and Radio 5 said it had been thoroughly entertaining and absorbing. Despite repeatedly trying SAFSEE, I hadn't had even another bleep out of them.
As we kicked off again there'd been no changes to either side. We started brightly with Pritchard feeding Evans and his on-target shot was saved by Stockdale. We seemed to be giving them a bit of a pummelling with a Stewart header and a Pritchard shot being blocked and then we won a corner from which Flanagan headed wide. At the other end a Vokes header was blocked ten minutes in and it still sounded like a blood and thunder encounter. It remained 2-2- as we passed the hour-mark and I wondered what changes LJ would make, if any, as the bench wasn't looking as strong as usual. We were pressing forward and totting up the corners and in the sixty-sixth minute an Embleton shot from outside the box hit the bar. It felt like a third goal for us was on its way and with both sides conceding plenty of free-kicks that could well provide an opportunity for Pritchard or Gooch to have a go. It was Wycombe who had the next good scoring chance with a Grimmer shot going just wide with twenty minutes left. Gooch and Winchester both had shots saved but with around a quarter of an hour left Evans collided with Patterson and after a lengthy stoppage had to be stretchered off. As if our injury/illness list wasn't long enough. Anyway, Diamond came on to replace him and once play restarted we soon won another corner.
I was feeling nervous enough without the prospect of a hefty dose of stoppage-time. Embleton became our first player to go into into the book and next thing Patterson saved another Vokes header. With two minutes to go Wycombe brought on Akinfenwa for Vokes and he's always a hard player to deal with but it was us who had the next real chance with a Stewart shot going just over the bar. And so we entered nine minutes of stoppage-time, even more than I'd imagined, but my butterflies were calmed when we got our third. It was Stewart who got it with a right foot shot after a rapid break. I wondered if he'd try to claim the first one too as two hat-tricks on the trot would be a great achievement. Three minutes to go and the win was looking a real possibility but I had visions of Akinfenwa spoiling the party. We were still really going for it and another long-distance Embleton shot was saved. We couldn't hold out, though, as Jacobson equalised in the ninety-eighth minute after a goalmouth scramble following a corner. It finished 3-3.
Dear me! That late equaliser was a sickener but all in all an away draw against a close rival with a weakened team won't feel too bad when the dust has settled. Bring on Lincoln.
