Wycombe 1,

Cambridge 0.

 

MICHAEL Harriman scored his third goal of the season to send Wycombe to the top of the league and save team-mate Garry Thompson’s blushes.

Harriman struck a second half beauty from 25 yards to see off ten man Cambridge after Tommo had passed up the chance to give Blues the lead with a tame penalty.

Wanderers were far from their best but just like at Exeter on Saturday they got the job done and are now looking down on the rest of the league.

It was the perfect way for Sido Jombati to celebrate making his 50th appearance for Wanderers as Blues boss Gareth Ainsworth reshuffled his side before kick off with Matt Bloomfield dropping to the bench to bring in Aaron Amadi-Holloway as an extra attacker as Blues hunted the win that would take them top.

Bloomfield passed the captain’s armband on to Joe Jacobson whose stunning free kick on Saturday set Wycombe on the way to a 2-0 win at Exeter and hopes were high that he would do it again when he was presented with an early opportunity to produce a carbon copy when Leon Legge chopped Amadi-Holloway on the edge of the box but unlike on Saturday his effort flew harmlessly over the bar.

Cambridge had not come to make up the numbers though and Aaron Pierre might have been punished when he lost the ball to Connor Newton as the visitors enjoyed the space given to them by Wycombe’s three-man midfield.

Despite being well below their best the better chances fell Wycombe’s way and they should have taken the lead when Gozie Ogwu’s cushioned header set up Stephen McGinn who could not keep his shot down after Amadi-Holloway had done the spadework.

It briefly spurred Wycombe on and Garry Thompson was next to take up the mantle running at Leon Legge and forcing visiting keeper Chris Dunn into emergency action on his near post.

But Wycombe could not take any real control of the game on a night when the 3,152 crowd were unusually flat as well.

Harriman whipped in a right wing cross which Thompson met with a swivel volley which whistled wide in a rare pulse-quickening moment in a first half when too many passes went astray.

With a prize of a place at the top of the table at stake it was disappointing fare.

On 37 minutes Ugwu came closest to breaking the deadlock with a drive from the edge of the box which was always going too high until it deflected off a defender and dipped dramatically onto the top of the net.

Harriman went closer still with a long range fizzer which keeper Chris Dunn tipped around his post after Cambridge only half cleared the initial flag kick. Stephen McGinn then forced Dunn to tip his mis-hit and sliced cross over his bar.

It was a rare flurry of action at the end of a disjointed first half which numbed the crowd into near silence at times.

And the home fans might have been silenced in the very first minute of the second half when Robbie Simpson stole in behind the Wycombe backline to meet Mickey Demetriou’s curling cross but with the goal gaping he somehow steered his header wide.

Worse was to come though. Ugwu squirted a shot horribly wide at the other end before being involved in the game’s biggest talking point on 55 minutes.

He fastened onto George Taft’s horribly short back header and was taken out by keeper Dunn who was promptly sent off.  Sub keeper Sam Beasant came on and after a lengthy delay, while United argued about the spot kick, and his first act was to save Thompson’s tame penalty which lacked both pace and direction.

Marcus  Bean was then denied twice in a minute; first with a header straight into the keeper’s arms when he should have done better and then with a sidefooted effort which smacked the bar and left the Wycombe midfielder holding his face in his hands.

The game was at last warming up and Wanderers were warming to their task. McGinn missed with a header after Bean lead a quick break-out from a United corner while Harriman hit the bar with a cross shot.

But the on-loan QPR man was not to be denied though and the goal did come on 70 minutes and it was well worth the wait.

There didn’t seem to be anything on when a headed clearance landed at his feet but he took one look at it before unleashing an unstoppable shot from fully 25 yards which threatened to rip the net away from the posts.

It was a rare moment of quality and just what Wycombe needed and reward for their effort and endeavour.

Harriman’s night was soon cut short however and the hero cut a sorry sight on 81 minutes as he was substituted and walked in some discomfort down the tunnel clutching his groin.

Cambridge appealed late on for a penalty when a shot struck Aaron Pierre but their shouts fell on deaf ears and Wanderers almost added a second on the 90 minute mark when O’Nien’s long range stinger hurtled into the side netting.

But Wycombe needed a double clearance in injury time to keep the points as Donaldson was denied with Jacobson making a crucial headed intervention.