WYCOMBE

Just to oblige the locals in their belief that this game is a proper local derby we turned up in numbers, even though in truth there wasn’t that much riding on it for us. (Nearly safe anyway, aren’t we? Who am I kidding?) The combination of pre-match fuel consumed, noise slung into the Bucks afternoon and a relatively low roof for a stand in a new(ish) ground, made for a cracking atmosphere.

The barriers keeping fans off the pitch at Adams Park are rather less sturdy than one finds at many venues; nothing more than lumps of foam covered in green plastic against which the advertising hoardings are rested. One or two fans were tempted to test the resilience of said structures as they made their way to their seats. Seats that would never be sat in.

Pre-match I was fairly optimistic as evidenced by my short contribution on Radio Oxford when I told Selfie I thought we would get at least a draw. Wycombe might be in the top three but it is their away form much more than their home form that has got them there. Last time they trotted out at home they only drew with Accrington.

That said, at the start of the game it took us a good few minutes to get out of our own half. All in all that wasn’t a bad thing because we coped quite well and with Kemar Roofe in the side we have a player with pace whose instinct is to go forward with the skills necessary to exploit the inevitable space. It also helps that Danny Rose, a midfielder with a touch of creativity, is now back in the side and back on his game. Furthermore those that operate in the vicinity of our opponents’ goal are beginning to develop an understanding.

We’d gone two up before the game had even entered its second quarter. Both goals were well worked and well finished. Rose showed determination and strength in his run to set up Roofe. The roles were reversed for the second when Roofe raced away and pulled the ball back for Rose to finish.

Celebrations in the away end were quite unrestrained. If the opportunity is there, surging forward is a natural reaction and with the flimsiness before the surgers a slight spillage was always going to happen. I noticed RC getting caught up in this and having been surged beyond the broken boundary held his hands up which said “sorry, not my fault”. A female steward tried unsuccessfully to grab him. Personally I’ve had no trouble with the stewards at Wycombe but at times I do wonder. I’m old and grey and was waved by but the time the stewards outside the turnstile took to search my son seemed a bit OTT. And still someone got a smoke bomb in. Never mind, as Alan Partridge said, “no one died”.

To their credit the Wanderers’ heads did not drop. They had a lot of wholehearted effort but we just about matched that and were the more skilful side. (When I say wholehearted effort I might be meaning overly physical).

George Baldock was nastily taken out by Aaron Pierre and whilst I was yelling for a free kick and card, yellow at the bare minimum, had failed to notice that he had played Michael Collins in on goal. The referee was as unobservant as me and miserably failed to play the advantage, producing just a yellow.Collins may not have finished of course but at 3-0 that would surely have been it.

So we went in at the break just the two up. We deserved a lead but it is slightly debatable whether we were two goals better than the Chairboys because we had at times ridden our luck a little bit.

I’d no doubt that Gareth Ainsworth would wind his side up at half time and that they would come out for the second period all fired up and looking to bombard us. If we were going to see this game out with ease, which wasn’t a likely scenario, we’d have to survive the first 10-15 minutes intact.

If anything I thought Wycombe had been too hurried in their play in the first half but now they became even more direct. A few minutes in and they had got one back. This prompted a one man pitch invasion from a home supporter. Not for him the slightest of incursions onto the turf but a run way out into the middle. Stupid boy. He was rightly marched out of the ground by the stewards.

I’ll be honest and admit that I thought we had potential to crumble then because I didn’t think our defence looked as solid as it had done when we were on our impressive run of not conceding.

We’d still looked a little threatening and it was great relief when 12 minutes later we re-established our two goal advantage. Again Rose was involved but it was Danny Hylton who pulled the ball back for Roofe to get his second.
This prompted the Oxford fans to adopt the anthem sung by the staff of Carluccio’s restaurant in Bicester Village on Wednesday, “The Roof(e) is on fire.”

We had other chances to properly put this game to bed but either took the wrong option or were not sharp enough. I’ve raved about Hylton this season but speed is not his greatest asset. When through on goal I’m not sure I’d back him to get there first in a race with a defender of average pace. But perhaps I’m being harsh.

But the two goal lead remained intact as the game drew to a close and when Ryan Clarke pulled off a fantastic reflex save on 86 minutes that felt like it. But oh no, we don’t do things the easy way. Three minutes later we were only one up. Then from somewhere the referee, inexplicably, decreed that an extra six minutes added time should be played. The tension was ramped up but surprisingly given the nature of what was going on we got through this with less trouble than I had anticipated. A mild phew.

Having been highly critical of Michael Appleton for some atrocious displays this season it is only fair to give him credit for this recent improvement. But that doesn’t mean this has wiped out all that went before. Far from it.
At least this result has put us only two fewer points off a play-off slot than a relegation place (12 and 10). But whilst this may appear that we are moving in the right direction I need to see more concrete evidence in the form of the personnel we need for 2015/16 all signed up and sorted. I’ve to some extent lost track of which players are on loan, which are on short term deals and which of our more permanent staff have contracts that are soon to run out. It could be all change and starting again which in my opinion would be a desperate situation.

George Baldock, Roofe, and Kyle Vassel are all on loan. The first two are integral to the current team and the latter looks to be an asset too. I believe that Rose and Jake Wright, players I rate, have contracts that expire this summer and currently neither know if they will be drawing a salary from OUFC going forward. There are quite a few things that need sorting out. We’ve got a base from which to build, let’s not throw it away. Or could it be that we’ve secretly commissioned a ready- made replacement base that is waiting in some lock up to be transported in at the stroke of a pen?

YORK

Well, the sun was out and we had a Fanzone drinking area / bus / tent / fenced off car-park thing going on. Well done to the club for putting this on and trying to engage with the fans but whilst acknowledging that this was hopefully / possibly only a first effort from which lessons will be learned, I’m going to have to slip into my grumpy old man persona. Sorry, but that’s me. No point pretending otherwise. Of course you need stewards and a queuing system but it was all a bit too regimented for me. I was stood close to the small bar area with pint in hand waiting for a couple more pints to be handed back to me to take outside when I was asked to move away from the bar. The young guy, who was one of rather more yellow coats than were really needed in this area, was only doing his job but I’d rather drink in a more relaxing environment. Not much choice near the ground though is there? Costs have to be covered so perhaps there is an argument that £4.00 a pint is acceptable but £2.50 a half is just taking the piss. (No I didn’t get there early enough to get 50p off). And were we drinking real real ale or bright beer?

Miserable git aren’t I?

But if the beer / cider was overpriced that was more than trumped by the freebie tickets on offer. Make it free and they will come as witnessed by the queues at the main entrance just before 3 o’clock. I heard there was one hard pressed steward trying to keep order. A bit of steward redistribution wouldn’t have gone amiss.

But will they come back as paying customers? On this showing I doubt it. Even those who didn’t pay got no value. The whole game was a non event with not one moment of authentic excitement or a proper save by either keeper. Both sides were awful so a draw was a fair result but 0-0 flattered.

Over the last few months I have come to the conclusion that the standard of League Two this season is not all that at all, which makes it even more galling that we are not even above half way in the table. This just highlights the extent of Mapp’s failure.

So why the difference when compared with just three day earlier? Although we’d started the last two games with the same team and had found an apparent effective formation and way of playing Mapp decided to make two changes. Hindsight is of course a fine thing and if players are genuinely in need of a rest then so be it. I’ve heard it said that Hylton looked knackered at Wycombe but I would argue that he nearly always looks knackered.

Leaving out Hoban I understand a bit more and if we have any plans to sign Vassell permanently and needed more time to see what he has to offer then even more so. But if he is just another of those here today gone tomorrow loan signings then I’m slightly confused. And that confusion extends into the non-appearance of James Roberts – one of our own (and one that looks good enough).

Following his suspension Alex MacDonald was a little lucky to come straight back in and had probably his worst game for us so far. We lacked width most of the afternoon so I can only assume that this came about because instructions were being followed. This was a bit strange with Mac back and given Roofe had been so effective against Wycombe. Playing him more down the middle reduced his threat.

It took until the 62nd minute for Appleton to replace MacDonald and Vassell with Hylton and Hoban and a noticeable improvement followed. Hylton’s intelligent movement, control and vision were a welcome relief to such a miserably dull football match. And I could also see what we had been missing without Hoban on the pitch. These changes brought more of a focal point to our play and Paddy’s hold up play and lay-offs made me think perhaps he has it after all. Then he missed what looked like a simple chance. Another, doh! There have been too many of these from our Irish front man.

Looking back on this performance it’s easy to conclude that we are nowhere near being a top seven side with too many players not quite up to standard. On that front I was surprised that it wasn’t Josh Ruffels who made way for Callum O’Dowda.

But at least we’ve at last reached 50 points in this instantly forgettable season. With five games to go, Tranmere in 23rd place are 11 points behind us. We won’t go down, but can anyone put forward a sound argument for anything better next season if we still have Appleton as our manager?