Once again, Wycombe more than held their own against one of the League One ‘big boys’ and by no means looked out of place in what was a tightly fought affair. The Blues defence held strong through and a sublime volley from Randell Williams that flew into the roof of the net saw all three points stay at Adams Park, which meant the winning run at home was now at an outrageous six consecutive matches.
Next up was an away game against a struggling Gillingham side. The Blues started like the in form side that they were and saw themselves go 2-0 up within just 17 minutes thanks to an emphatic El-Abd volley (does he score other goals?) and a smart finish from Nathan Tyson, his first of the season. The typical and slightly bizarre football cliche of 2-0 being the most dangerous score in the game came true at Prestfield. Gillingham capitalised on two poor pieces of marking from set pieces to level it up and the Blues left with no more than a point.
The game that followed looked to be an easy one on paper. AFC Wimbledon were sat rock bottom of the league, struggling for points, whilst Wycombe were on a remarkable home run. However, League One is notoriously unpredictable and it always seems to be the sides out of form, that would do anything for a win, are those that halt great winning runs.
This was certainly the case here, as the Blues endured a frustrating afternoon where they just could not break the Wombles down. Wimbledon took the lead in the 29th minute after a corner fell to Kwesi Appiah to stab home, and despite registering 12 shots to the visitors four, Wycombe found themselves fall two behind in the 90th minute thanks to a well executed counter attack from The Dons. A late Onyedinma goal following good work down the left wing by Tyson gave us fans an ounce of hope, but it was ultimately not enough, and just like that, the winning streak was over.
Games in December come thick and fast, and Boxing day presented the Chairboys with an opportunity to bounce back from the disappointing defeat when they were faced with a visit to the Pirelli Stadium, home of Burton Albion. After coming out on top in the reverse fixture, Wycombe would have been hoping to do the double over The Brewers and took a large step towards doing so when a Jacobson cross flew into the back of the net, thanks to a hefty deflection on the way.
It took just six minutes for Burton to equalise however, and the scorer, Lucas Akins, went on to cause the Wycombe defence problems all afternoon. The home fans will have only just finished celebrating the equaliser when they scored just one minute later, to take the lead and really knock the wind out of Wycombe sails. It got even worse for the Chairboys just seconds before half time, when Akins scored again to put Burton 3-1 up. There was to be no famous comeback this time, and we fell to a second consecutive defeat.
Next up for the Blues was another away fixture, this time against Scunthorpe United. The reverse fixture saw Wycombe come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, and travelling fans will have been hoping for more of the same when the home side took the lead just eight minutes in (not a moment to remember for Ryan Allsop). We created more than enough opportunities throughout the rest of the game to not only equalise, but win the game. However, it was to be one of those days. Alex Samuel had a goal disallowed, Kashket hit the post and saw a late shot clawed off the line by the Scunthorpe goalkeeper in quite extraordinary fashion. Despite wave after wave of attack, the ball would just not go into the back of the net and Wycombe left the North East with nothing.
Summary/My Verdict
After an encouraging start to the month, form began to dip as we saw Wycombe get just one point from their following four games. This run has certainly brought some fans back down to earth, but it was always going to happen in such a competitive division and I still remain confident that we have enough to turn our form back around and start getting results again.
It is certainly disappointing that most of the teams we dropped points to this month are below us, and changing this will be crucial in the coming months. January will no doubt bring some uncertainty surrounding certain players. A number of loan players, including Fred and Morris, are set to return to their parent clubs, and we will have to wait and see what tricks Ainsworth has up his sleeve in terms of players coming in.
Finally, I would just like to mention what a truly unbelievable year 2018 has been. Promotion to League One in thrilling fashion, watching an entertaining team that ooze togetherness and desire, followed by a start to League One life that not many would have even dreamed of. Here’s to 2018, and a 2019 that I hope is filled with as much joy and excitement.
UP THE CHAIRBOYS!
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