Wycombe 1,

Plymouth 2

 

WANDERERS lost their unbeaten record on an afternoon when their GPS undergarments were called into question.

The Blues have been wearing the mapping device under their kit all season which gives the club analytical data to judge players’ performances but referee Tim Robinson questioned it and there was a six-minute delay before the match kicked off while Wanderers had to produce a letter from the FA which proved the devices have their approval.

The late start meant a late finish and for once Wanderers weren’t able to produce one of the dramatic last-gasp finishes they have become famous for as Argyle got some sort of revenge for their play-off semi-final defeat after an absorbing top of the table clash.

Wanderers were in trouble early doors. Despite their sophisticated GPS devices, worn like bras, they lost their bearings and lost dangerman Rueben Reid twice in the first five minutes and it cost them. First, he skipped around Danny Rowe as though he wasn’t there to win a corner and then from the resultant flag kick they left him on the back post to nudge in the opening goal after Peter Hartley’s header from a Graham Carey corner had been kept out on the line.

It might have been worse two minutes later but Gregg Wylde sliced his shot out towards the corner flag when he was positioned in the middle of the penalty area to do so much better.

Wycombe made the most of their reprieve and were level from a corner of their own on 12 minutes through ex-Argyle man Jason Banton. He was on the spot to rifle the ball into the roof of the net after Joe Jacobson’s delivery had been headed on by Aaron Pierre.

The game was far too open for both managers’ liking but it made for quite a spectacle with both sides showing their attacking intent. And there was no little quality on show as characterised by Marcus Bean’s classic back heel to Banton which crowned a series of neat one twos.

Michael Harriman, scorer of the two goals which beat Hartlepool last week, was also in the mood gaining yards down the right before rolling a cross into the box which Luke O’Nien got on the end of only for Curtis Nelson to block the effort.

After their dodgy first five minutes Wycombe had done well to work their way into the ascendancy but they were rocked back on their heels on 31 minutes as Argyle became the first side this season to score more than one goal against them.

There was a touch of fluke about it though as a Wycombe clearance from a dangerous low free kick into their six yard box struck the grounded Jake Jervis and ricocheted into the net without the Plymouth player realising he was the scorer.

Plymouth might have been out of sight by half time. The dangerous Reid was again left unattended to get around the back and pull back for Wylde whose shot was headed to safety by Jacobson with keeper Ingram beaten.

But if Jacobson’s head came to the rescue there it almost put his side in trouble moments later when his intended clearance was charged down leading to another Plymouth break. The cross was delicious, the header from Reid just as good but the full length one-handed save from Ingram even better.

Wycombe twice came close to a leveller in a single attack at the end of the first half. Danny Rowe’s long range blockbuster struck debutant Gozie Ugwu who tried his luck, forcing a save, the ball came back to Pierre who travelled the long way round to create an opportunity which he totally miskicked setting up Banton who wasted an excellent opportunity.

That should have been it for first half action but there was still time for Argyle to go down the other end where Carey bent a shot just wide of the full-stretch Ingram’s left hand post.

The last time these sides met it was in a match worth a reputed £150,000 and Wanderers won that to book a day out at Wembley in the play-off final - the stakes weren’t quite as high this time but you would never have known it from the commitment shown by both sides.

Wycombe took to the field without their talismanic captain Paul Hayes who scored in both legs of the play-off semi-final as the former Plymouth loanee finally succumbed to his long-standing niggly ankle injury which meant another former Argyle loanee Ogwu got his first start in Blue having signed in midweek.

At the back Wanderers welcomed back Aaron Pierre after his international adventure with Grenada for whom he played two World Cup qualifying matches against Haiti this week but Pierre’s defensive partner Rowe was in all sorts of trouble as he needed lengthy treatment after being clattered going for a high ball. He shook off the giddiness though to resume in the back four.

But it looked like Argyle centre half Hartley was the one suffering concussion when on 55 minutes he inexplicably switched off and allowed Garry Thompson to make up plenty of yards and get in behind him to earn himself a one-on-one with Argyle keeper Luke McCormick. And it looked to be a battle of wits that the Wycombe man had won as he bent his shot beyond the keeper’s despairing dive only to see his shot come off the inside off the post and roll back across the goal and out.

Debutant Ogwu was struggling to make the ball stick up front but the first man to make way was Rowe with Wanderers deciding to take no risks after he was involved in another clash of heads. It meant a reshuffle, Sido Jombati moved to centre half, Harriman to right back, Thompson dropped into midfield and Amadi-Holloway came on up front to breathe some new life into what had been a tiring attack.

But Ogwu could not turn the ball in from close range after a goal line  scramble after a Jacobson free kick caused panic in the visitors’ box.

Wycombe shuffled the pack again with long throw expert Ryan Sellers replacing Banton to provide a succession of bombs into the box. They were given seven minutes of second half injury time to try and pull it out of the fire. Pierre was shoved up front but for once there was no final dramatic act.