Fleetwood Town became the first visiting team to keep a clean sheet at Adams Park this season as they defeated a toothless Wycombe by a goal to nil.

Right from the start Joey Barton’s men went at the home side with Ched Evans heading wide before forcing a great save from Ryan Allsop after the Wycombe goalkeeper set him up for a one on one. Evans then struck the bar with a looping header. The referee awarded a corner. Wycombe offered little by way of attack with the only effort of note coming late in the second half when Josh Parker’s thunderous shot was tipped onto the bar by Alex Cairns. The referee gave a goal kick.

Wanderers had scored three first half goals on Saturday without much by way of effort but their three goalscorers from that absent with Adebayo Akinfenwa on the bench, Darius Charles unable to play twice in a week due to arthritis and Matt Bloomfield injured. A front three of Parker, David Wheeler and Alex Samuel looked ineffective, much like at Milton Keynes ten days ago, with the midfield offering little by way of creativity.

The second half continued in much the same way as the first with Town playing the ball around well and they hit the bar once again just before the hour mark through Lewis Gibson with Paul Coutts’s follow up from six yards ending closer to the halfway line than the goal.

Wycombe needed to change thing,s and Akinfenwa and Paul Smyth were introduced to proceedings on 66. Two minutes later, Evans was sent off for an elbow to the face of Jason McCarthy before Wycombe finally put a half decent move together in the final third as Smyth crossed for Akinfenwa who headed just wide.

It was to prove costly as with 15 minutes to go, the ten men took a deserved lead. Barrie McKay put a ball into the box and with the Wycombe defence frozen in the cold night air, Paddy Madden nipped in to divert the ball past Allsop. It was a soft goal from Wycombe’s point of view but the least Fleetwood deserved.

Fred Onyedinma was brought on for his first appearance since October but none the less it was the Cod Army who nearly sealed things up with three minutes to go. Sido Jombati and Anthony Stewart watched a long clearance bounce between them and substitute Harvey Saunders stole in and lobbed the on coming Allsop. Saunders followed the ball through but just as he was about head home, Allsop recovered to palm the ball away in what was a bizarre yet impressive save.

Seven minutes of injury time was added on and that became nine, thanks largely to Joey Barton receiving a red card for seemingly remonstrating about something or other. Fleetwood sat back and Wycombe came close to snatching an undeserved point as they reined in shots on the visitors goal, showing more attacking prowess in the final two minutes than in the previous 97 combined.

It wasn’t to be though and the result lifts Fleetwood to 9th, just two points off the play-offs. They host Peterborough on Saturday.

For Wycombe, it’s only a second home defeat of the campaign and the first time they have scored in 19 league games at Adams Park. If that’s not a run they wanted to end, another that they most definitely do is the one that has seen the fail to score in the previous six away games. A trip to bottom club Bolton on Saturday presents the ideal chance to stop it becoming seven.

WYCOMBE 0 FLEETWOOD TOWN 1 (Madden 75)

words Phil Slatter, D3D4 Wycombe Wanderers correspondent