FL2: Wycombe v Torquay 23 Nov 2010

Well wasn`t that a ride and a half, where do you get tickets for another ride? We were superb and this display just backs up what I said about the Barnet game, we can blow top teams away easily and struggle against teams at the other end. Provided we can do battle with the lower teams and blow away the top teams we will do very very well this season. Any `Buckle out` merchants want to have a say? ;D ;D ;D

I heard the figure of 100 on the radio and texted my son who was there, as I thought that was a lot of noise for 100! He reckoned probably 300; a lot of them probably, like him, living in the London area so not using organised Gulls travel. Great game it seems.

Just to add to the few match reports. We really were superb. This is easily the best passing display I’ve seen under Paul Buckle and would rival some of the best stuff we produced under Leroy. The game started at a decent pace. Wycombe came at us three times, always lead by Betsy and a combination of fantastic ball control and a cutting up playing surface saw Lee Mansell on his backside. When the BBC site has the highlights up, look out for Bevan’s first save. It’s a great one for those who say he can’t get down quickly enough. Unfortunately the ball wasn’t cleared and Beavon got it over the line. Just. They then seemed happy to sit back and look good on the break. Ainsworth (37) and Betsy (32) had varying degree’s of success until Oastler started to sit deeper and help close the gaps between CB and FB.

We started to put them under real pressure and our fans were fantastic. The goal was inevitable but not the quality of Wroe’s finish. I’m really looking forward to seeing it again when it’s online. Not too sure about his badge kiss celebration (earnt him a jovial slap from Lee Mansell) but we all do daft things sometimes. After the goal I expected us to sit back a little as the pace really had been frenetic. We defended further and further up the pitch and Wycombe’s counter attacks started to dry up. Until Ainsworth launched a seemingly speculative volley from 30 -35 yards that dipped right at the last minute. Luckily it still cleared the bar by a foot. This bought Wycombe back into the game and came close after a back four splitting through ball from Chris Westwood (33) saw Beavon (I think) spawn a decent chance. More corners and set pieces from us, more breaks from them. Their final break of the half saw Another great piece of Skill from Ainsworth getting around Nicho and his shot hit the post. Strevens (I think) somehow missed the rebound and it’s these fine lines that make all the difference.

I was a little shocked with how quickly Wycombe tired in the second, the had about four or five minutes then only two or three meaningful attacks. then we go up the other end, bit more pressure and Wroe gets his second.
Our passing was excellent. O’kane and Wroe looked like a younger and more mobile Russell and Fowler. Zebroski and Hemmings had taken the game to them and they had no answer. Rendell came on but looked very tired. His son being born over the weekend may have had something to do with that. Branston, Oastler and Ellis worked well together and saw Wycombe forward movement reversed with intelligent distribution on the floor. The introduction of Stevens for Hemmings was another good decision and saw us able to put more pressure on the tired Wycombe. The Referee could’ve easily stopped it on points here. Still we continued and our finishing wasn’t doing the supply any favours. Benyon continued trying to run in-between two big centre halves rather than cutting across them. Frustrating player to watch but I’m sure he must be an irritant to play against. His goal is all credit to pin point distribution from Zeb’s. his finish beat the keeper but only just made it over the line. Not sure the visiting scouts would have been that impressed by him, on yesterdays performances I’d be more concerned with the loss of Wroe.

I’ve written all that, not mentioned Ellis’ two off target efforts from corners were he’d beaten his man by a good yard. O’kane’s vision and spatial awareness all day. The ref seeming to give everything our way. The numerous compliments for our team and support from Wycombe fans. How awful this pitch is now and how bad it will be in march. Still if we play like this (and our support is this supportive) on Saturday we’d have a decent chance against any league one team, let alone a struggling side.

Agree with all the positive comments about last night's game. For a game against a Play Off rival, the gulf between the two sides was massive and my only concern was at the amount of chances we failed to put away - at 2-1 Wycombe were being totally outclassed but with players like Ainsworth and Betsy they still created one or two chances. I can see how we have thrown away points away from home this season. We should have been four up by the time Benners put the game to bed.

As a few people have mention, the quality of our football brought back memories of the Leroy promotion season. There was a period during the second half we ended in Wroe shooting over where the quality of our passing was about as good as I have seen over the last 25years. Wycombe allowed us far too much time on the ball and we exploited it to the full with neat passing from Wroe and O'Kane and intelligent running from Zebs, Benners and Hemmings. It was good to see that Hemmings is finding his League Two feet - he looked very dangerous before fading in the second half. A word about Oastler - I like the look of this fella and although Wroe and O'Kane take much of the plaudits, this guy does a lot of the donkey work that allows them the space - he also has an eye for a pass as well. If we can keep him for the season it would be a real bonus.

I'm torn about Benners - We cannot afford to refuse an offer in the region of £100,000, but the frustrating thing is that he is still work in progress - he has come on leaps and bounds over the last year, but I get the feeling he can continue to develop as a player in the coming year or so. I didn't actually think it was one of his better games last night. If we do sell him I'd like to think that we will cover ourselves with plenty of sell on clauses. If there is a chance thar he isn't going to sign a new cotract then we don't have much choice.

We will always be a selling club and fans have to accept that - if crowds were better then maybe we could hold on to our players for a while longer. On the other hand, we have little chance of bringing back the fans if we are seen to be cashing in on our decent players. I don't personally think we have the consistency to get into the play offs this season, but I am happy with the steady progress made this year. I have quite enjoyed watching the steady development of players like Benyon, Ellis, Okane and Zebs. It would be a shame to beak the squad up just when we appear to be at the start of something pretty good.

A good shout about Oastler, Enzo. I thought he was excellent. I'm sure Wroe and O'Kane like having him in the team.

I see Wycombe's Vitalfootball sub page has been scouring our site and t'other one in some bizarre post-mortem.

I have to agree with some of the other posters. Did all Wycombe fans sleep through last night's game? You could've heard a mouse fart.


www.wycombe.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=222491

I think it worked a beaut really, he did the tune and I did the beat and I think that it worked. The player liked it and with us being in a good stand we could create a loud atmosphere. I especially the Fire Drill chant, and Benyon`s celebration.