Wycombe 1-4 Yeovil

Feb 6 2010 By Greg Burns at Adams Park

SLOPPY defending cost Wycombe Wanderers as they undid their good work in recent weeks to concede three goals in 15 second-half minutes and get hammered 4-1 at home to Yeovil.

Draws at Leeds and Southend and a win at Bristol Rovers had given Blues players, management and staff the belief that they could achieve what had looked impossible at Christmas - League One safety.

But they crumbled under the pressure of going into a game as favourites for the first time in ages as a brace from former Wanderers player Dean Bowditch and strikes from Owain Tudur-Jones and Andy Welsh completed the rout.

The result looked like a 'coupon buster' before kick-off with Yeovil only having won once on the road all season.

The same 11 players which won so well at Bristol Rovers last weekend were given the chance again which meant Kevin Betsy continued at right-back with Lewis Hunt only fit enough for the bench.

It also meant home debuts for new midfield signings Dean Keates and Josh Payne with striker Alex Revell also making his home bow after scoring on debut at the Memorial Stadium.

Blues chief Gary Waddock was one of the busiest managers in the division during the January transfer window with eight signings and the Wycombe bench reflected that.

While counterpart Terry Skiverton could only name six substitutes, Blues were able to name a full set including new-signing Kevin McLeod along with Jon-Paul Pittman and Matt Phillips.

A confident Wanderers side started the game well with West Ham loanee Payne using his trickery to get to the by-line and crossing for Matt Harrold who rose well but headed wide before Revell fired tamely at Alex McCarthy in the opening minutes.

But with all their dominance, the home side struggled to force a clear-cut chance in the opening 15 minutes with Yeovil allowed to settle in the game without creating any chances of their own.

They stunned the home side on 17 minutes when sloppy Blues defending allowed Welsh waltz into the box and cut the ball back for unmarked Bowditch who sidefooted the ball into the top corner superbly to give the visitors the lead and score his fifth goal of the season.

Bowditch had scored one goal in 11 appearances for Wanderers when on-loan from Ipswich Town in 2005/06.

All of Wycombe's opening promise in the game was being sapped out of the game by a resurgent Glovers side, who had only won once on the road all term, with the home side looking increasingly vulnerable at the back.

They were let off the hook when Welsh produced a shocking miss. As Bowditch broke free he slid a perfect ball across the face of the goal with Welsh sliding in and firing well over on 31 minutes from just three yards out.

Immediately after, Betsy made a darting run of his own from right-back and managed to toe-poke the ball across to Harrold who could only fumble a shot wide of the post when under pressure from Tudur-Jones.

The chances spurred the game and the crowd into life. But the only other chance in the half came on 36 minutes when a Keates free-kick caused chaos in the Yeovil box with Sam Williams forced to turn the ball behind for a corner with Harrold ready to lash the ball home.

Wycombe were lacking creativity in the midfield and the front pairing of Revell and Harrold were struggling to impose themselves onto the game as the home side went into the break behind and surely set for a furious half-time teamtalk from Waddock.

Wanderers were no strangers to coming back from behind in games having done so against Leeds, Southend and Bristol Rovers in recent weeks to earn five vital relegation points. They were going to have to do it all again to beat a Yeovil side who had not particularly impressed or had to work hard for their half-time advantage.

Waddock resisted the temptation to change things at half-time with Wanderers in need of an early breakthrough in what had the feeling of being one of the most important 45 minutes of their season.

But it was Yeovil who had the first chance after the restart with Bowditch firing well wide when running through. But the home side needed a massive goal and it came on 48 minutes.

Keates delivered a perfect free-kick into the box for former Yeovil striker Harrold to head in despite McCarthy getting fingertips to it for 1-1. Waddock's side suffered a blow when centre-back Adam Hinshelwood hobbled off soon after with a knock.

The former Aldershot captain had been a rock at the back for Wanderers in recent weeks with Luke Oliver coming on in his place.

And just three minutes later the home side were behind again when Williams was able to run through with his low shot palmed away by Scott Shearer into the path of Welsh to tap in and make up for his earlier howler for 1-2.

Blues rallied with a succession of corners and Payne firing wide from outside the box. But they needed something quickly could not afford to let the goal knock their resolve.

Sloppy defending threatened to cost Wycombe dearly when Oliver pulled down Tudur-Jones and was lucky Chris Westwood was covering so he only got a yellow card.

And they were made to pay when the midfielder dusted himself down to fire in the resulting free-kick on 61 minutes to give Yeovil a 3-1 lead and crush Wanderers' recent relegation revival. In truth, his low free-kick should never have beaten Shearer at the near post.

Waddock threw on Pittman in a bid to use his pace to trouble the Glovers backline minutes later.

But Wycombe were punished again on 65 minutes when Bowditch broke clear and exploited Oliver's lack of pace to run clear, cut inside and toe-poke the ball into the bottom right hand corner for 1-4 with the striker looking suspiciously offside.

The home side were shell-shocked by the quick-fire goals which brought back memories of the horrendous collapse against Brighton in December.

Payne broke clear on 75 minutes but saw his shot well saved by McCarthy but Yeovil continued to expose a brittle Blues backline and looked the more likely team to score the next goal.

As the Yeovil fans sang 'Cheerio' to the Wycombe faithful, it was hard not to think this could be terminally damaging to Blues' chances of survival this season.

The home side's afternoon was summed up on 84 minutes when John Mousinho saw his deflected shot fall nicely into the arms of McCarthy as Yeovil were able to comfortably hold out for their biggest win of the season.

Defeat moves Wycombe six points from safety and with the relegation trapdoor well and truly open again.

BLUES: Shearer 5, Betsy 5, Westwood 5, Hinshelwood 6 (Oliver 50 5), Woodman (cpt) 5, Payne 5, Keates 5, Mousinho 5, Beavon 5 (Pittman 62 6), HARROLD 6, Revell 5.

Subs (not used): Arnold, Hunt, Montrose, Phillips, McLeod.

Booked: Oliver (51)

Att: 4,793