Substitute Akinfenwa bags late winner for Wycombe

SUBSTITUTE Adebayo Akinfenwa was singing in the rain with a winning strike five minutes from time at Adams Park this afternoon.

Exeter are the away day kings, belying their lowly-league status with three wins on the spin.

And they looked to be heading home to Devon with a point after putting up a solid defensive display in a League Two game of little chances.

But it was Akinfenwa who found the time and space with a neat piece of chest control, a sweet turn and right-footed shot which earned Gareth Ainsworth’s side all three point this afternoon.

It was Wycombe’s second win on the spin, following their morale-boosting 5-1 midweek demolition of Crewe.

Wycombe were left frustrated after a bitty first half at Adams Park as struggling Exeter City chose to play it tight and counter on the attack.

This meant a game of few chances in a stop-start first 45 with neither goalkeeper sorely tested.

In fact, the closest any team came to scoring was when Wycombe’s Danny Rowe had to clear off the goal line on 12 minutes. Lee Holmes’ 12th minute right wing corner was whipped into the far post, and Exeter striker Ollie Watkins arched his header towards goal where resolute Rowe cleared.

Wycombe dominated possession and by the end of the half, manager Gareth Ainsworth was imploring his team to use the flanks to break the Devonians’ resolute defence.

It took 18 minutes before Wycombe had their first shy on goal when Paul Hayes flicked on Anthony Stewart’s header over the cross bar from Joe Jacobson’s left-wing corner.

In truth, away day kings Exeter, who have won three times on the road this season despite remaining winless at St James’ Park, were more threatening as they attacked the goal behind which their supporters were parked.

The muscular presence of Exeter’s Reuben Reid had good cause for a penalty when he was taken down in the area after 25 minutes by Anthony Stewart. However, referee Nicholas Kinseley waved away penalty appeals to the annoyance of the vociferous Devon fans.

Reid was proving a presence with his strong-running, bouncing off defenders. One speculative shot from range was spilled by a diving Blackman but collected at a second attempt.

Wycombe were not getting a sniff on goal in the first half; the forward line was well marshalled. Stewart headed over and Gape skied another effort over the crossbar inside the first half hour.

Lee Holmes floated a dangerous free-kick over a five-man Wycombe wall on 31 minutes after Reid was bundled over dead centre of the goal, 27 yards out. Reid also unlucky three minutes later, ruled marginally offside when bearing down on goal, having taken a return pass inside and with just the goalkeeper to beat.

Wycombe were reduced to long range efforts. Cowan-Hall injected some pace, coming off the left wing after 43 minutes, but his speculative right-footed effort after cutting inside sailed well wide.

And the Chairboys’ frustration resulted in a late first half yellow card for Danny Rowe for a rash challenge on Grecians’ striker Ollie Watkins as he danced his way through the Wycombe defence.

The sun of the first half, replaced by dark rain clouds overhead for the second, with the rain swirling around in the wind at Adams Park.

It was still tense on the pitch with Exeter offering more in attack. It took a perfectly timed tackle from Jacobson after 47 minutes to deny the lively Reid, as he ran at the Wycombe defence and into the penalty area.

With the rain driving down, Cowan-Hall raised temperatures with a driving run into the penalty area after 56 minutes. He stepped over a trailing leg and cut the ball inside, only for the ball to be cleared for a corner.

Wycombe began probing down the left hand side and were soon asking some serious questions. Jacobson’s cross to Cowan Hall at the far post was cleared and a Wood curling shot from the left wing caused panic in the Exeter defence.

Manager Gareth Ainsworth made his first change after 62 minutes when Adebayo Akinfenwa came on as substitute in place of Paul Hayes. Within a minute, the Wycombe striker had got his head on a cross from Sam Wood which flashed by the post.

Moments later, neat one-touch play enabled Gape to hit a first time cross to Garry Thompson just six yards out, but the ball agonisingly evaded the Wycombe player who was rushing in.

A foul by Jake Taylor after 69 minutes set up a perfectly positioned free-kick for Wycombe on the left-edge of the penalty area, but Jacobson’s teasing left-footed delivery was headed behind by Anthony Stewart.

A frustrating afternoon for Wycombe took another notch when Jacobson was booked for a foul on City striker Watkins after 73 minutes. Taylor was booked for Exeter for a foul on Gape.

The yellow Exeter wall was finally breached by substitute Akinfenwa after 85 minutes. The ball was floated into the area by Anthony Stewart, the Wycombe striker chested the ball down, spun and struck the ball right-footed, deflecting off a defender and creeping over the line.

The Adams Park crowd saluted the striker who notched his second goal of the season.

Three minutes from time, substitute Scott Kashket, who scored twice in midweek in the 5-1 win over Crewe, went down in the penalty area after beating his man, but the referee waved away the appeal.

Kashket had a second penalty appeal turned down in added time at the end of the 90 minutes when he seemed to be pushed over. But with the rain falling, and three points in bag, the Wycombe fans weren’t too bothered when the referee turned down the appeal.

WYCOMBE: Blackman, Harriman, Jacobson, Stewart, Pierre, Thompson, Rowe, Gape, Wood (sub: Bloomfield, 90), Hayes (sub: Akinfenwa, 62), Cowan-Hall (sub: Kashet, 79). Subs not used: Richardson, Jombati, Freeman, De Haviland.

Booked: Jacobsen, Rowe.

EXETER: Olejnik, Stacey (sub: Sweeney, 72), Woodman, Moore-Taylor, Croll, James, Watkins, Taylor, Holmes (sub: Wheeler, 85), Reid, Simpson (sub: McAlinden, 88). Subs not used: Pym, Oakley, Jay, Riley-Lowe.

Booked: Taylor.

REFEREE: Nicholas Kinseley (Essex)

ATTENDANCE: 3,297