Wycombe Wanderers managed to secure their first ever win over Blackburn Rovers, as they moved one step closer to tightening the battle for relegation, whilst Rovers were left scratching their heads as to why they’ve now only won 1 in their last 13 matches.
Rovers’ first team selection of the final eight Championship fixtures of the season saw three changes to the side that earnt a deserved 1-1 draw away at Norwich City, prior to the season’s final international break, 13 days ago. Tom Trybull, Harvey Elliott and Sam Gallagher – who notched against Norwich – were all back in the side, as they replaced Corry Evans, John Buckley and Tyrhys Dolan.
After both teams had completed their pre-match rituals, it was Rovers who won the coin toss and got the game underway via the kick-off, which was signalled on referee, David Webb’s whistle.
Wycombe proved to be the livelier of the two sides as they managed to craft an opportunity after only five minutes of play. A ball over the top from David Stockdale saw Anis Mehmeti latch onto the pass before cutting inside and try his luck at goal, but the attempt was denied by the head of Darragh Lenihan with Wycombe having to settle for a corner.
Following a succession of corners, the set-piece in the 9th minute, saw Uche Ikpeazu come close to opening the scoring. After Rovers only half-cleared the ball, Wycombe pumped the ball back into the box as Ikpeazu beat the offside-trap to collect the lofted ball, but the big forward was unable to convert as his effort was blocked behind. He soon latched onto the resulting corner, but that soon looped over the bar and ended up as a Rovers goal-kick.
The first change of a relatively quiet game was made on the 14th minute after Dominic Gape was deemed unable to continue as he was stretchered off and replaced by Dennis Adeniran.
The game’s first booking was shown to Lewis Holtby in the 25th minute after the German brought down Fred Onyedinma.
Rovers’ first attempt at goal came in the 31st minute after Joe Rankin-Costello was played in, but his low effort saw David Stockdale need two bites of the cherry before securing the ball within his gloves.
In the 42nd minute, Rovers were forced into a substitution of their own as Joe Rankin-Costello was withdrawn due to injury, with Ryan Nyambe coming on in his place.
As the 45th minute ticked over, referee David Webb added on an extra six minutes of time which made up for the two injuries.
In the fifth minute of added time, Rovers came agonisingly close to taking the lead into the break as Harvey Elliott and Ben Brereton combined. The former managed to craft some space down the right-hand side before pulling the ball back for Brereton who had made some space inside the ball. Despite the pass being an inviting one, Brereton lacked the composure and accuracy in order to convert as he sliced the ball wide.
Moments after Brereton’s miss, referee David Webb brought the underwhelming first period to an end as both sides returned to the dressing room in order to review their first-halves and try and make the second period more livelier.
Gareth Ainsworth would have been pleased with his side’s first-half display as it included everything he would have asked from his side, bar the goal that has seemingly been elusive for them all season. Whilst their defensive prowess was strong, as they had reduced Rovers to only one shot on target, from Rankin-Costello, Wycombe had managed to test Rovers’ defence, despite not really forcing anything out of Belgian international, Thomas Kaminski.
Tony Mowbray’s mood would have been contrasting as he would have been frustrated that his side had failed to assert their dominance, like they had done in the reverse fixture. Despite coming into the game without Adam Armstrong, who was still absent with injury, Rovers’ squad had more than enough quality to battle against a Wycombe side who were seemingly preparing for life in League One.
After both sides had received their instructions and returned for the second-half, it was Wycombe who kicked-off for the second period as they looked to try and grab a win and stun Rovers in order to boost their faint hopes of survival.
The 47th minute saw the deadlock broken as Fred Onyedinma managed to grab a goal that could prove to be vital for Wycombe’s survival hopes. A simple in-swinging corner from Joe Jacobson from the right-hand side saw Onyedinma rise highest in the box, before nodding the ball past Kaminski and into the back of the net, to put Wycombe 1-0 up.
Ten minutes after the goal, Rovers moved for a double change as Stewart Downing and Tyrhys Dolan came on to replaced Ben Brereton and the booked Lewis Holtby.
With Rovers looking void of options, they made their final two changes in the 72nd minute as John Buckley and Bradley Johnson replaced Tom Trybull and Harvey Elliott.
Rovers crafted a chance in the 81st minute as a corner from the right saw Taylor Harwood-Bellis try his luck at goal, but he hooked the ball over the crossbar, as Rovers’ time to grab an equaliser ran out.
In the 84th minute, former Preston North End winger, Daryl Horgan replaced Anis Mehmeti.
A minute later, Curtis Thompson was booked for bringing down Bradley Johnson. The Rovers man managed to latch onto the end of the free-kick he won, which was taken by Barry Douglas, but the former Leeds United midfielder’s effort fell wide of the mark.
On the 88th minute, Joe Rothwell weaved his magic as he turned on the afterburners by dribbling through a couple of defenders before his eventual shot was denied by David Stockdale.
The 90th minute saw Wycombe made a double change as Adebayo Akinfenwa and Alex Samuel replaced Uche Ikpeazu and Leicester City loanee, Admiral Muskwe.
Following the changes, referee David Webb added on an extra four minutes of time onto the end of the game as Wycombe looked to clinch their first ever win over Rovers in what was their second ever game against the Lancashire side.
Although Rovers huffed and puffed, Wycombe remained resilient and managed to come away with three vital points which may prove to be key regarding how their season pans out.
In what is probably the shortest review of a game on this website; There’s not much to say about that tie, really. The words ‘boring’ and ‘uninspiring’ spring to mind and it arguably describes how this season has gone. With all due respect to Wycombe, it’s a wonder whether ‘embarrassing’ is the right term to use to describe this performance and result.
With seven games left in the season, Rovers are still in 15th with 46 points whilst their goal-difference has gone down to seven, despite it still being positive.
Rovers’ task doesn’t get any easier in their next three games, as Easter Monday (5th April), sees them host promotion-chasing Bournemouth at 3pm. Following that affair, the side are back on the road as they travel to Cardiff City to take on Mick McCarthy’s playoff-hopefuls on Saturday 10th April at 3pm. Once that tie is complete, Rovers return to Ewood Park to host Wayne Rooney’s Derby County a week later, on Saturday 17th April at 3pm.
