Wycombe Wanderers and Bradford City played out a forgettable 0-0 draw amidst bitingly cold temperatures at Adams Park on Saturday afternoon.
After snow and ice had affected much of the south of England, the stadium team at Wycombe alongside a number of volunteers had worked tirelessly to ensure the ground and surrounding areas were safe for visitors whilst the undersoil heating ensured the pitch was playable.
Gareth Ainsworth handed a full debut to Manchester City loanee Luke Bolton while Adebayo Akinfenwa was out of the squad entirely having reportedly tweaked his groin in the draw at Blackpool last Tuesday night. Alex Samuel came in in his place, and there was also a start for Matt Bloomfield. Bradford manager David Hopkins had to do without the injured Callum Woods, which resulted in Adam Chicksen getting a start.
Wycombe began the game brightly, and the first moment of danger came after ten minutes when Jason McCarthy’s right-wing cross was missed by the Wycombe front line, and eventually cleared following a scramble in the area. Nathan Tyson headed wide from Joe Jacobson’s free-kick four minutes later, but that was about as good as it got for Wanderers in the first half.
Bradford started to come into the match after that, and David Ball blazed over on 20 minutes before a goal mouth scramble resulted in Curtis Thompson blocking Eoin Doyle’s effort on the line. There were claims from City that Thompson had used his hand, but referee Thomas Bramall waved them away. Ball then shot wide from a free-kick before forcing Wycombe goalkeeper Ryan Allsop into the first save of the match just before the half-hour mark.
The pitch cleared of snow
With six minutes of the half remaining, Hope Akpan had an effort deflected wide as City failed to make their possession count. A rare Wycombe foray forward resulted in a corner that Adam El-Abd headed wide before the half then ended with Nathanial Knight-Percival heading behind for the visitors when well placed.
It had been a relatively uneventful 45 minutes, but one that the Bantams had undeniably had the better off, albeit without causing too much panic to the Chairboys back line.
It took nine minutes of the second half for Wycombe to finally register a shot on target as lively substitute Scott Kashket saw his long-range effort bobble in front of Richard O’Donnell, but the Bantams keeper was able to make a stop and gather the leftovers.
As the half drew on, there appeared to be little improvement from the first forty-five, but the final twenty minutes proved to be the game’s most eventful period. Paul Caddis had a dangerous cross cut out by the Wycombe defence before Wanderers broke away through McCarthy. Some good interplay between him and Paris Cowan-Hall, who had been on the pitch for mere seconds, resulted in the latter finding himself free in the area, but his shot was superbly cleared off the line by Anthony O’Connor.
Bradford’s final effort of the game came with sixteen minutes remaining when Connor Wood’s cross-shot went wide of the post before Wycombe upped the ante with the finishing line in sight.
81 minutes were on the clock when a big call from the home faithful went up for handball after Paul Caddis had gone to ground in the area to try and thwart Cowan-Hall. Again, Thomas Bramall was not interested. Wycombe then forced a series of corners, one of which saw Sido Jombati have a close range-effort blocked by a defiant City defence.
The final chance of note came in injury time when the ball found its way to Wanderers substitute Marcus Bean. 364 days after his first Wycombe goal, a stunning volley that sealed a 4-3 win following a thrilling match against Carlisle, the stage was set for him once again. Yet in the same way that that remarkable encounter was at the opposite end of the spectrum to this, Bean’s effort was a forgettable miss-kick which popped up to Kashket who shot wide.
The hills overlooking Adams Park more beautiful than the football on display
That proved to be that in a game that had been extremely even. Bradford had shaded the first half and Wycombe had been the better side after the break, but one save from each goalkeeper, one goal-line clearance from each defence and one appeal for a penalty for either side following an alleged handball resulted in a 0-0 score-line that was an accurate reflection of proceedings.
While Gareth Ainsworth will maintain that safety is the target for his Wycombe side, they are starting to look up now and are just six points off a play-off spot. They’ve improved as a defensive unit in recent weeks with three clean sheets in four games, but now face daunting trips to Luton next week and then Barnsley the week after.
Bradford meanwhile are still in the relegation zone, but their improved run of results gives them as good a chance as anyone of staying up. They face Fleetwood at Valley Parade next week before games against Plymouth Argyle and Walsall – two of the sides that are by no means out of woods and whom City could easily catch as the relegation battle heats up…
Wycombe Wanderers 0 Bradford City 0
ATT: 4,586 (501 Bradford)
words Phil Slatter, D3D4 Wycombe Wanderers correspondent