All Set Up For Thursday

We’d gone through ad infinitum the pros and cons of facing Wycombe for a Wembley final, what would be needed, what was and was not relevant from the previous games (there’s always a very nagging feeling when everything went so well last time you just think ‘do the same again’ while the opposition must be thinking ‘nothing worked last time, we need to change something’). Basically we just wanted a rerun of the 0-4 win and not surprisingly that didn’t happen. But what we got was in many respects positive, in some respects a magnificent display of resolve and resolution.

It was an ugly game, combative but nervy, marked by poor refereeing and very few chances. They edged the first half, even though Kone could easily have been given a red card for his double challenge on Ramsay (and how he avoided a second yellow during the game is a mystery, not least for leading with his elbow in an arial challenge). They had a shot or two, some dangerous moments, while we struggled to create anything. But through the second half we steadily gained the ascendency, nullifying their threat, and ended by far the stronger side, with their keeper having to pull off two late saves to keep it goalless. It may not have been the result we secretly hoped for, but it’s an outcome that we probably would have taken before the game – and the way in which we overcame them, despite a homer ref, must give us optimism for the second leg. Jones has to be the happier of the two bosses.

We all also knew the team if everyone was available, the only question being whether they all were. Mannion, Jones and Berry did indeed return, while Small was back but only among the subs. Whether that was tactical on the part of Jones the Boss or the thought that he might not be ready yet for 90 minutes would be a point to clear up later. So it would be 3-5-2 with Ramsay, Jones and Gillesphey in central defence, Watson and Edwards the wing-backs, Coventry and Docherty the midfield anchors and Berry the more forward midfield option, and Godden and Campbell up front. Maynard-Brewer was the back-up keeper, Small and Mitchell (getting the nod again over McIntyre) the defensive options (although Small can be considered more an attacking one), Anderson and Gilbert for midfield, and Mbick and Hylton the reserve forwards, with Kanu (and of course Ahadme) missing out.

In the first half, without Small the onus was on Campbell to be the out ball and main attacking threat, but he was well marshalled, generally crowded out before being able to get set, often fouled with nothing given. The ball was in the air most of the time, but Wycombe had the greater cohesion and threat going forward, requiring some very good defending to keep them at bay. They had I’d say two real chances. The first was in the fifth minute when a ball found a guy in space outside the box and he hit a wicked shot, fortunately close enough to Mannion for him to get enough behind the ball to keep it out. The second came on 14 minutes from a free kick on the left side. The ball was sent in to the far post and really two Wycombe players got in each other’s way, with one heading over from a good position.

The incident of note came on 35 minutes when Ramsey was seeing a ball out and Kone came sliding in. His first contact with studs showing caught Ramsey around the ankle, his follow through saw his studs hit higher up the leg. It was a poor challenge, one he acknowledged; only he can say what was going through his mind. Would VAR have resulted in a red card? I’d say probably. A little bit of handbags at the end of the half saw the usual yellow for each time, Docherty for us. Here too a replay would probably have seen more cards for them as some of their players got involved when there was no need.

The stats at the break showed possession almost even with Wycombe having four attempts on goal, two on target, against one and none for us. But we’d kept them out.

Not much changed during the second half except that we just seemed to get stronger, they probably tired and became frustrated. We still weren’t creating anything in the final third, but that changed late on following the introduction of Small and Anderson, for Watson and Berry, on 71 minutes. They were clearly wilting and my impression was that if anyone was going to nick a winner it would be us. The two chances came late on as first Godden was denied by their keeper, who went on to produce a more instinctive save from Docherty from close range.

You’d say on balance over the full game a draw was a reasonable outcome. But if the game had gone on for another 10 minutes there was only going to be one winner. We ended up having seven attempts on goal, three on target, against seven and two for them (ie none on target in the second half).

We have to wait to see if anyone picked up a bad enough knock to rule them out of the return at The Valley. We will have Aneke back available and presumably he will be in the squad (Jones’ lack of forward options from the bench having been a notable constraint), while Jones will have to decide whether at home Small is the better wing-back option (for all his qualities Watson cannot provide the same threat going forward). It’s going to be some night, bring it on.