5:05pm Saturday 17th October 2009
By Alan Feldberg
WANDERERS 1, COLCHESTER 1.
GARY Waddock has his first point as Wycombe Wanderers thanks to an 86th-minute equaliser from Jon-Paul Pittman against Colchester at Adams Park this afternoon.
His goal was the crescendo to a rousing final 15 minutes after Blues had lost their way in the second half.
Despite going to the break a goal down after an absolute howler from keeper Scott Shearer, Wycombe played some good stuff in the opening 45 minutes as new signing Scott Davies called the tune from centre midfield.
There was a zip and purpose to their passing and more than once Colchester's defence was exposed.
However, with nothing to show for their boldness, Wycombe appeared to return to their default setting for much of the second period as the elan which marked much of their work before the break faded out.
Waddock threw on Pittman after 55 minutes and Chris Zebroski after 78 to try and save it but with time ticking away, it looked like he would have to look for his first points as Blues boss at Exeter next weekend.
But then Pittman struck to score a goal the home team richly deserved.
It might have been a new beginning, but a harsh legacy of the Peter Taylor regime greeted the players as they emerged from the tunnel in front of a Frank Adams Stand little more than a third full.
The home fans packed in behind Shearer's goal did their best to make up for it though and they were in full voice as Blues - deployed in a 4-3-3 formation with Davies at the point of a central three - kicked off slightly nervously, and it took a full ten minutes for them to seriously probe Colchester's area with a dangerous Craig Woodman cross.
The visitors cleared easily, but a minute later Davies showed the quality that tempted Waddock to make him his first signing.
First the on-loan Reading midfielder glanced an incisive, first-time pass into Matt Harrold's path and when the striker was hauled back, earning Danny Batthe a booking, Davies took the free-kick that really should have led to the opening goal.
His excellent in-swinging centre put it on a plate for Michael Duberry, ten yards out and in the middle of goal. But, unmarked, he got his angles horribly wrong and the ball floated wide.
Within minutes Duberry was at fault at the other end of the pitch as well, but John-Joe O'Toole let him off by firing high over Shearer's bar as Woodman and Leon Johnson converged.
It was only a temporary reprieve though - with 22 minutes gone Blues fell behind to an absolute shocker of a goal.
Shearer received a back pass on the edge of his area with all the time in the world to decide what to do, but he dallied far, far too long, Kayode Odejayi closed him down and when Shearer tried to go round him and lost it the striker simply had to pass the ball into an empty net.
Shearer partially redeemed himself with a tip-over from O'Toole's long shot shortly afterwards, and to Blues' credit they didn't appear rattled by the goal.
Ian Westlake and Davies continued to spring forward at every opportunity and provide decent service for both wide men.
Betsy could have been stronger at the back post when Davies sent in another cross just begging for a finish, and more than once Phillips was cleverly picked out down the left.
It was as entertaining as it was enterprising and not even a change in referee five minutes from time knocked them out their rhythm.
Twice before the interval searching balls sent Harrold scurrying beyond the defence while, feeding of Davies' appetite and bravery, every Wycombe player seemed to want the ball.
There was no end product, but Waddock's team went to the break thinking that, with Duberry's miss and the nature of Colchester's goal, it wouldn't have been a big leap from 0-1 to 1-0 after 45.
Matt Bloomfield for Pack was the only change during the interval, but with some of the fizz gone from the game Waddock freshened things up with a second striker after 54 minutes.
Pittman replaced Westlake in a new 4-4-2 formation, and moments later the extra body up front nearly paid off as Pittman chased down a threaded ball into the Colchester area.
He held off his marker before spinning on the byline and rolling the ball back to edge of the box. Davies arrived on cue, but his side-footed drive bent just the wrong side of the far post.
That appeared to be that as the game sunk into a lull and Wanderers began to resort to long balls to dig them out a mess.
A scuffle in the Wanderers area was followed by one in the Colchester area, when a defender clearly kicked Pittman. But instead of awarding Blues a penalty, the stand-in referee gave Colchester a free-kick for a foul earlier in the move.
However, if that decision angered Blues fans they were incensed in the 82nd minute.
Chasing a ball in behind, Pittman had the beating of Mark Tierney for pace. The Colchester defender wrapped an arm round Pittman's neck and hauled him down but, amazingly, escaped with just a yellow card.
When Pittman fired wide moments later it appeared like it would not be Wanderers' day.
But with four minutes left the player quickly developing a reputation for changing games from the bench latched onto another long ball and fired low past Us keeper Ben Williams to provide a fitting scoreline to the match.
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