Adams Park

Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 MK Dons

17th August 2019

I, slightly shamefacedly, have to admit Wycombe Wanderers have sort of drifted along beneath my radar over the years.  For I was slightly startled to realise season 2019/20 will actually be the club's 25th successive in the Football League -  a major achievement in itself.  

I can vaguely recall Wanderers attaining Football League status under Martin O'Neill, and a couple of semi-final ties with Liverpool and Chelsea in succeeding seasons.  But that is sort of it.  

Although, I do appreciate every Wanderers' fan could probably list innumerable other highs (and lows) experienced along the way.

This 25th season will see the club playing back in League One (third tier), having won promotion outright in 2018, this afternoon's opponents MK Dons having achieved promotion themselves just a few months ago.  

The approach to Adams Park along Hillbottom Road

Behind the East Stand, where the away support are housed.

Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers

The match itself turned out to be a tale of three penalty kicks; with the failure by Dons' Conor McGrandles to convert his ultimately being the reason his side failed to take anything from the encounter.

All three penalty decisions, awarded by ref Trevor Kettle, were probably correct but, goodness me, they certainly were of the softish variety.  In two instances forwards were sent hurtling to the ground following the gentlest of shoves by an opponent.  Whilst for the third, Dons' Dean Lewington took advantage of a carelessly extended defender's leg to ensure he theatrically hit the deck.  It really is surprising how little contact it takes for a grown man to fall over, once he takes to a football pitch. 
  
Wycombe opened the scoring after 12 minutes when the nippy Paul Smyth was the first chap to tumble; Joe JACOBSON converting the resultant spot-kick.  I was really rather impressed with Jacobson throughout the match, he recovering from a severe smack to the face early on, not only to open the scoring, but to go on to enjoy an excellent match  

Dons levelled just after the hour when a mistimed shot by Baily Cargill was tapped in by Jordan BOWERY – both players finding themselves with far more space in the Wanderers' box than I am sure pleased home manager Gareth Ainsworth.

Regan Poole came close to putting the visitors ahead moments later.  But all his colleagues' good work in gaining parity was swiftly undone when Jordan Houghton's control let him down at a vital moment, which led to Alex Samuel setting up Fred ONYEDINMA to restore the home side's lead.

MK then squandered an opportunity to equalise once more, just prior to the break, when Conor McGrandles casually hoisted his aforementioned penalty attempt way over the crossbar.  Never mind, though – another spot kick was on it's way for the visitors just five minutes after the break.  Jordan HOUGHTON here making amends for his first-half error by bashing this one high, straight down the middle and, rather more importantly, under the crossbar.

The match then intriguingly ebbed and flowed for the next forty minutes, before a fine, fine move won the match for Wanderers in stoppage time.

A beautifully weighed pass by Nick Freeman, found David WHEELER in the Dons' box.  The latter's first touch flummoxed his marker Cargill, whilst his second hit the winner past Lee Nicholls.  A former Dons' player, Wheeler declined to indulge in any of that No Celebration nonsense, I was pleased to note.

Adams Park - Wycombe Wanderers

The BMI Healthcare Terrace 

Wycombe Wanderers v MK Dons (August 2019)

Wycombe Wanderers v MK Dons (August 2019)

A collection of happy Chairboys & Chairgirls acclaim Joe Jacobson's opening goal.

Jacobson later chasing down the ball, whilst Regan Poole and Ryan Allsop wonder where the heck it has gone.

Panorama of Adams Park, Wycombe Wanderers.

Seconds before the break Dons' Conor McGrandles has an opportunity from the spot....

...but much to the delight of these bods, he skies it.

The Frank Adams Stand.

Jordan Houghton (24) converts the third awarded penalty of the day.

Wycombe's Alex Samuel (No 25) was another home player who caught the eye

Adebayo Akinfenwa was a second-half sub

David Wheeler (7) & Jordan Houghton (24)

Who doesn't love a stoppage-time winner?

Adams Park – named for a former player who paid for the club's previous home Loakes Park back in 1947 – is a rather impressive place, I have to say.  There is one tall two-tiered stand (if watching from a height is your thing), plus three more modest structures – one offering covered standing for the more excitable members of the home support.  All four corners were open admittedly, but not noticeably so.  What perhaps lets Adams Park down though is its location.  

The ground nestles on the edge of The Chilterns.  Picturesque certainly, but utterly impractical.  It is reached up a dead end road through an industrial estate, and parking for the most part is accommodated in a large sloping field opposite the ground.  A field with but a single entry/exit.  The queue to get out at time up was epic, even after this modestly attended (5,243) match.  

Adams Park can, I believe, hold almost twice that number, and I shudder to imagine what getting away from the ground will be like when likes of Sunderland, Coventry and Ipswich come a-calling later in the season.

Adams Park

Adams Park

I should not be surprised if some of these folks are still queuing to get out.

But even at half-full, the the noisy bods at both ends made for an entertaining atmosphere; the two tribes exchanging the traditional chants between them as the match progressed.  “Is this a library?”, “You're not singing any more” and “We forgot the you were there” were all trotted out.  An unfamiliar one to me, aimed at the Dons fan at full time, went along the lines of “You fucking <something>, the county is ours”. 

I did smile though when, upon leaving the ground, I heard a few folks singing “We Are Going Up!”  In August??