Wycombe are susceptible to a counter-attack…
Ipswich ended Wycombe’s unbeaten home run in the previous league game at Adams Park with three second-half goals that all developed from Wanderers attacks. The same thing happened on Saturday with the decisive goal coming as George Hirst and Marcus Harness got in behind the home defence and linked up well to force the ball over the line. Wycombe’s wing-back system has worked well recently, but there is a weakness that could well be exploited further by sides with pace.
And they’re definitely in a blip now
When Wycombe were 3-1 away at Fleetwood and heading for the top of the table, all seemed well for the Chairboys. They then conceded twice to draw 3-3, were beaten by Ipswich, held to a draw by League Two Hartlepool in the cup and against Portsmouth, failed to score at Adams Park for the first time since February. Is there cause for concern? Perhaps most worrying in terms of a promotion push is the fact that Wycombe have failed to beat anyone who is currently in the top half of the table. Draws away at Oxford, Wigan and Rotherham are not to be sniffed at but they will need to improve this record drastically if they’re to be in the promotion picture come what May. The performance against Portsmouth was far from terrible – Wycombe hit the post twice, had one effort cleared off the line and were thwarted by three great saves from Pompey’s reserve keeper Alex Bass, who also saved a penalty. Yet as they prepare to take on Bolton next week and then travel to Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday, the faithful will be hoping the much-missed Garath McCleary will be back to full fitness to help get Wycombe’s season back on track.
Pompey fans chime well without the bell…
Wycombe’s ban on instruments at Adams Park has caused some debate on Chairboys forums but the absence of the incessant Pompey bell was a welcome relief on Saturday. That didn’t stop the travelling faithful from being in their typical decent voice and giving Wycombe’s Jason McCarthy a torrent of abuse all game after the 26-year-old played over three minutes of first-team football for Pompey’s arch-rivals Southampton seven years ago. You can’t help but be impressed at their collective knowledge. They also gave Adebayo Akinfenwa a round of applause after he took time out of his half-time warm-up for some selfies and autographs with some young Portsmouth followers. When the big man entered the action, the painfully unfunny and utterly tedious chant about his tits being offside reverberated from the fans whom Akinfenwa ‘credits’ in his autobiography with coming up with the song in the first place. At the end of the season when Akinfenwa retires his presence, charisma and goals will be much missed by Wycombe supporters far and wide. Yet that chant, painfully unfunny after hearing it approximately 678 times for over five years, will finally fade away into the Chiltern hills. Every cloud…
…and they’re standing by their man
Portsmouth became the first visiting League One side to win at Adams Park on a Saturday afternoon since, well, Portsmouth back in April 2019. Yet it was also their first away win since the opening day in what has, thus far, been a somewhat disappointing campaign. That didn’t stop Danny Cowley getting a terrific reception not just at the end which was understandable, but during the game as well. During the 2019-20 season, Portsmouth lost 1-0 at Wycombe after a similarly poor start and the chants for Kenny Jackett’s head were loud and clear. Pompey stuck with Jackett and made the playoffs that season and patience with Cowley may well reap similar rewards as they moved into the top half of the table and extended their unbeaten run to four games.
Joe Jacobson is fallible from the spot
The most notable period of the first half came when Portsmouth were denied what looked like a penalty at one end before, moments later, Wycombe were awarded a penalty of their own. The end result means that the decisions of referee Neil Hair are immaterial but Wycombe will look at Jacobson’s unsuccessful spot-kick as a defining moment in the game. Having taken what may well be his best ever penalty in the cup game at Hartlepool, his tame effort against Portsmouth was undoubtedly his worst. There is an argument that it was made to look worse by the fact that Bass stayed put and Jacobson went down the middle but, for all the successful and unsuccessful penalties in Jacobson’s career thus, this was arguably the first time the save was fairly straightforward for the man facing him.
Jacobson steps up, but it was the away fans that celebrated his penalty.
Wycombe Wanderers 0 Portsmouth 1 (Harness 73)
Att: 6,471 (Away 1,420)
words Phil Slatter, D3D4 Chairboys writer