Cod Almighty | Match Report
by Andrew Lumbard
20 October 2007
Wycombe Wanderers 3 Grimsby Town 0
A glorious autumn day greeted the 255 Grimsby fans in the heart of the Chilterns, for yet another visit to the end of the industrial estate in High Wycombe. A delicate perfume wafted through the air from the adjacent delicate perfume factory as we made our way to our seats in the Dreams stand to be watched over by the Tango Team stewards.
A monochromatic assemblage of players took to the field to warm up, Grimsby in their white 'Kick Racism Out' T-shirts, and Wycombe in black. The 16 Grimsby players did their sprints and skips, before having a bit of a kickabout; Wycombe warmed up then half the squad donned the uniform of the masses - the hi-vis vest - and had a quick game of seven-a-side. With 15 minutes to go, it looked like Wycombe were heading for their smallest gate of the season, and so it turned out to be - 15 less than their Bury game.
The Grimsby side was Barnes, Logan, Newey, Fenton, Whittle, Till, Boshell, Hunt, Toner, Rankin, Butler. On the bench were G Jones, Clarke, Taylor, Bennett and Montgomery.
First half
Town kicked off toward the Hypnos Terrace, and did not give a throw away within 15 seconds, but instead received a couple of throws themselves on the right within the first minute.
The first, and nearly the only, sight of goal for Grimsby came as Toner's shot from the left edge of the box was blocked. A hopeful punt from defence down Grimsby's right was swiftly despatched into the car park by Whittle. The resulting long throw from Wycombe was cleared to the edge of the area, and met by a Wycombe player whose shot went 10 yards wide.
Torres started to threaten when he cut inside from the Wycombe left: his effort could have been met by a forward, but went harmlessly wide of Barnes' left post. Logan had started to make some breaks up the right, but one pass was dreadfully short of its target and although intercepted, was easily tidied up by Whittle.
After about 10 minutes, Rankin was wrestled to the ground somewhere up near the penalty area, with a free kick just a bit to the right. The ball was tapped to Newey, who had his shot blocked. Town kept possession and tried to build, but the afternoon of inability to get a player in a space or end the end of a cross had begun.
Wycombe were always looking to break quickly from a well organised defence, and McGleish looked like he'd been given the right to roam. More swift attacks came from Wycombe. Firstly, an attack down their right produced a low cross which was met with a joint Whittle and McGleish foot. Whittle's size 10s got the better of it and the danger was averted. A second cross from the left cleared all the heads at the near post, and bounced on the six-yard line; thereafter, Newey was able to head it for a corner.
Both sides were beginning to share possession, but no real threats were being produced. Also, was it me, or did we seem to be getting the flow broken up by a few fussy refereeing decisions?
A free kick was gathered safely under pressure by Barnes, and off we went again up to the other end. Both sides now preferred the patient build-up, with Toner the distributor in the absence of Bolland. Rankin showed some mettle by battling in the corner, and forcing the throw-in, but still non-productive football.
After 24 minutes Martin Bullock broke from deep inside his own half and sent the ball down the left to McGleish. He carried the ball towards the bye-line, and with Bullock racing into the area, accurately scuffed the ball to the unmarked Gary Holt just behind the penalty spot. There may have been the hint of a deflection, but Barnes was beaten as Holt's ball found the net by the bottom of the right post.
Grimsby moved forward from the restart and a cross from Logan was way too deep, ending up as a goal kick. And then... nothing really happened for a while.
Town got a free kick when Butler was shoved in the back by McCracken on the right of the area, but over-enthusiasm on Grimsby's part gave the advantage back to Wycombe as someone fouled in the area when the cross came in. Three attacking throw-ins were repelled by Town, and Butler was again fouled as he met the long clearance. The free kick sent Newey towards the right corner, and a swift interchange with Toner and Hunt saw the latter flashing in a low cross. Fielding, the Wycombe keeper, couldn't live up to his name, and was rescued by a very-close-to-the-goal-line clearance for a corner. (Dear reader, you may leave now: this was our only chance!)
In the last five minutes we had a couple of off-the-ball incidents. Whittle got a little close to Torres, who went down and required treatment in readjusting his hair band. Then, after the whistle had gone for something else, the ball was punted downfield; in an effort to catch it and get it back for the kick Logan reached across McGleish, and may or may not have caught him with his arm. McGleish gave it the full 'hard man hurt' performance and the 'inspecting of the hands for blood having held it to the wound' sketch. The funniest moment came as he pointed theatrically at Logan to ensure that all his teammates knew who the offender was.
The free kick for which play was originally stopped was easily dealt with again by the safe hands of Barnes, and a final attack and cross from the right saw Whittle, again beat McGleish in the slide on the six-yard line.
The goal aside, a very lacklustre performance by either side, very little creatively, and a failure to capitalise on some decent approach work. Still, a jivvy up from Mr B and it shouldn't be too long until we're back in this...
It could only have taken John Motson to tell us that this was Wycombe's 1000th goal in all competitions, and bugger me if he didn't, when he strolled on the pitch at half time.
Second half
After the excitement of seeing the real Motty, how could the second half's entertainment compete? Well it didn't, and forgive me if I recount it in the style of Grimsby's performance; full of errors; mediocre; passionless; and I may even give up towards the end.
Wycombe followed their kick off with a hopeful punt and the subsequent riposte saw Rankin fouled. However, Toner's free kick was hit unthreateningly long.
There was a split second of hope as Newey chased a poor throw-in to the bye-line and hooked the ball across the face of goal, and if Butler had a head the size of Shrek he may have connected, but instead was about three feet away from it. Another wasted free kick, resulting from the inevitable booking of McCracken for fouling Butler, as Rankin received the close attention of a Wycombe defender. For a short period of about five minutes Grimsby played with some grit and determination. Some big tackles were won by Boshell and Newey, but the small amount of pressure again yielded no chances, and not even the hint of dirtying Fielding's shirt.
A half break as the ball broke to Butler, but Rankin was then flagged for offside. Wycombe then started to exert the pressure of a team that is a goal ahead playing against a side that fails to create any clear-cut chances. Hold on though, a rampaging Toner sets loose Till, but his sliced shot can only trouble the Tango Team near the corner flag.
By now, Town are struggling to string together anything that looks remotely like a free-flowing move, and start to feed on the crumbs from the captain's table. Toner and Butler are caught offside, as Butler continues to put himself about in a last-ditch effort. Rankin offers a bit of spirited relief to the downward spiral of mediocrity, when he charges into Russell Martin in the right corner in front of the slumbering Town fans.
After 69 minutes the inevitable changes are made with Bennett for Till and Clarke for Boshell; Logan was pushed up to right midfield. The next five minutes passed as if nothing had happened. Basically two teams were going through the motions in a game that felt end-of-seasonish with nothing to play for.
And then to spoil it, we had a goal. The ball was lost by Town and a Wycombe player shot to the bye-line on Town's left. It was then pulled back for McGleish to shoot from 18 yards. Barnes could only parry the ball to the feet of McGleish, who was following up on his shot. He managed to poke the ball onto Barnes' left post, which then rebounded to the McGleish/Barnes heap in the centre of goal, where the ex-Cobbler was able to get his toe on the ball to poke it over the line.
Town wandered aimlessly across Adams Park as Wycombe looked interested again. Torres picked his spot for a long-range shot but drifted 15 yards from it. The ball found Grimsby's net again after a Wycombe player infringed when following up on a bad Barnes punch.
Reuben Reid came on for Sutton and immediately missed a sitter of a header, followed up by Holt blazing high over a vacant goal. Grimsby attempted to run the ball out, but a Bennett slip gave up possession too easily and Wycombe were off again down the right.
Clarke and Taylor showed a little enthusiasm with the striker being caught offside, and in the final minute Fielding was called upon to ensure his clean sheet bonus as Toner, Butler and Logan combined to put him under pressure, and he punched the ball clear.
With seconds of the three minutes of added time left, Bloomfield shot down the right side of midfield and then turned Newey as he cut inside the area. The ref played the advantage as Newey took his man down in the act of passing, but blew for a penalty when there was no advantage obtained. McGleish scored from the spot to add to his earlier goal, and full time was signalled as Town kicked off.
Man of the Match
It would be churlish to suggest that no-one deserves it this week, so let's hear it for Martin Butler, who, with a better run of the ball and better service, would have been head and shoulders above the rest of the side.
Official Warning
Never even noticed him, although he attracted the ire of the home fans when there was a tiny period of passion and aggression from Town (which didn't last very long). I will award Mr S D Cook a 7.2.
The Other Lot
Paul Lambert seems to have a nice settled side, particularly when he doesn't play Jermaine Easter. Strong at the back, quick runners in Bloomfield and Bullock, and McGleish playing as well as he has for a while up front. Not sure they'll make the play-offs, though.