Match Details

West

Reports

First half

The season only really starts with that roar before kick off, and it felt great to be back spectating. The match kicked off in blazing sunshine which sat there all day. both teams' fitness levels stood up well to it. Burnley started the brighter with some neat passing football, quite a few balls down the channels and behind the Wycombe back line, which Mullin in particular was on to well. A nice run from Branch, Little was class again, a few dangerous-looking crosses. All we could muster were a couple of soft or wide shots, but it looked encouraging.

As the first half went on though the Wycombe midfield took hold and we looked a bit shaky. It has to be said that Burnley weren't playing very well and lacked composure. As soon as Wycombe started pressing Burnley's possession in defence, we gave the ball away far too easily. They started pumping in long balls which Davis and Thomas didn't cope with very well, then forcing corners. The corners prompted a tape recording of what, to my brother, sounded like a wheelie bin being dragged over cobbles, but was in fact the vaunted Commanche music. Just like watching Gladiators. Fortunately, Wanderers' finishing wasn't up to much and they blazed wide a couple of times. Crichton also made some good stops.

Cooke fired the ball on target but saved by the keeper, and Wycombe scored. It had been coming, but it still irritated when it happened. Personally I thought Thomas was more at fault rather than Davis, but from my angle (we were tucked away in the seating area) it looked as if Thomas didn't press McSporran hard enough - Davis had enough to do covering two other strikers. I have to say it looked an excellent shot though. Anyway, heads went down, grumbles turned into abuse in the crowd and we hung on for half time.

Second half

Stan's masterplan was flushed down the toilet at half time and Alan Lee came on to prompt a bit of aerial battery from the Clarets. To be fair, we did tend to pass the ball through to the front, but a bit more directly. Little looked a little forelorn out on the right wing. It turned into a more even game.

Lots of chances for Wycombe again - Crichton is definitely a good shot-stopper, but still not the answer? - but Burnley came into it much more. There was a reasonable penalty appeal for hand-ball, ball to hand but everyone's seen them given, and a bit of hope crept in. A mistake by the keeper was cleared off the Wycombe line. Then Ternent obviously muttered "To hell with it" and doubled the number of strikers by bringing on Andy P and Jeppo. Immediately the midfield improved, and we scored.

Payton was quickest to a ball down the channel, slung over a terrific cross with Burnley strikers queueing up, and Cooke placed the ball in perfectly, with a lot to do. He certainly looked fired up when he celebrated the goal. Nothing like competition to concentrate the mind...

Then it was eyes down for an enjoyable 25 minutes with Burnley having the better chances, including a much better claim for a penalty when Payton was dragged down. I don't think Payton's theatrical fall helped though.

So one point gained and a partial end to the Adams Park hoodoo. We could have had three, but on balance Wycombe had the better chances, and looked a useful side to me. Overall, you can see that we're a much better team than last season, but we didn't really play very well. However I suspect we can only get better (famous last words).

Player Notes

West - OK, was left high and dry a couple of times for lack of midfield cover

Davis - Well, Steve Davis, enough said. Not his best game but not his worst.

Thomas - Jury's still out for me. One-on-one he looks a class act, but I'm not sure about his movement when under pressure.

Smith - Not a defender although he worked hard. One great advantage of being left back was that he could get to the byeline on the overlap rather than having to beat his main. Put in a couple of fantastic crosses.

Little - class, but faded as the game went on.

Cooke - top notch I thought. Had 3 chances, put them all on target. Undeniably committed.

Cook - not a great game. Looked hassled under pressure.

Branch - Is this Stan's blind spot? Always looks the part, until he gets the ball. And he doesn't get the ball very often

Mellon - could struggle to hang on to his place unless (a) he puts himself about a bit more (b) he finds his shooting boots - how did he score so many for Blackpool? Often looks yards behind play.

Mullin - worked hard. As usual.

Lee - very promising, caused problems for the Wycombe defence, and rattled them. Looks to have a good footballing brain.

Payton - mentally the opposite of Mellon: always yards ahead of play.

Jepson - stiffened the midfield no end.

Steve

Errors? Comments? Opinions to add to this page? Mail us!