Wycombe Wanderers 2 : 0 Plymouth Argyle

Two first half goals by an on-form Garath McCleary settled this encounter between two promotion chasing sides.

Wanderers still trail Argyle by two points but the loss does not end the Devon side’s chances of automatic promotion as they have MK Dons yet to play on the final day. Their aim should still be to get to that fixture with their fate in their own hands.

However, they are also no longer guaranteed a playoff  slot after Wycombe, Sunderland and Oxford all won

At 57%, Argyle had enough possession but lacked spark and incision and Wanderers defended their lead inside opposition territory for most of the second half.

Argyle have Sunderland, Wigan and MK Dons left, all hard games although they’ll need help from elsewhere. MK Dons play Sheffield Wednesday today and then finish at Plymouth itself.

Argyle’s aim must surely be to get to that season ending game with a chance that victory will guarantee second place.

Wanderers are hanging on to the ladder but now have one hand on a lower rung, rather than merelty fingernails. Currently fifth,  Sunderland (6th) and Wednesday (7th) have ganes in hand, but Sunderland have a more difficult  run in.

To add to Gareth Ainsworth’s feeling that his side’s fate lies withing ther own hands, is the glorious fact that Sheffield Wednesday visit them next Saturday, April 23rd. If they do not win at Wimbledon on Monday, that game becomes a must win.

Up against Argyle in the sunshine however, Ainsworth’s men looked capable of winning such games. Gradually, players have found their form; notably McCleary, the outstanding Brandon Hanlan and Chris Forino. Even without talisman Anthony Stewart, the back four proved solid with his replacement Dominic Gape doing a tremendous job.

McCleary took his season tally to 11 goals on a beautiful summery afternoon in Buckinhghamshire. He opened the scoring in 14th minute, relying on sheer power to beat Michael Cooper at his near post.

 

Jordan Garrick had a chance to equalise nine minutes later but his side-foot went inches wide. That was to be as close as Plymouth came to parity thereafter.

McCleary doubled Wycombe’s advantage before half time but the goal owed muct to Hanlan who produced a lung bursting run down the left, scattering defenders. If Hanlan’s run was quality, his cross into the area matched it, leaving McCleary the easiest of chances, which he slid under Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper .

Wycombe can still be caught by both Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday however but on this form can put a dent in that when they host the Owls.

It was almost an even better day for Gareth Ainsorth’s side. Shrewsbury Town had pegged Sunderland back to 2-2 after going two down, but a late late goal from Nathan Broadhead gave the Black Cats a 3-2 win at the Stadium of Light.

There are still eight games to come which pit the promotion hopefuls against each other, starting with MK Dons v Sheffield Wednesday today, Saturday 15th.

It may well be that Wycombe need their Buckinghamshire rivals to do them a favour:

The remaining seven (all in April) are:

Plymouth v Sunderland (18th)
Oxford v MK Dons (19th)
Wycombe v Sheffield W (23rd) 
Wigan v Plymouth (23rd) 
Rotherham v Oxford (23rd) 
Sunderland v Rotherham (26th) 
Plymouth v MK Dons (30th)

After the match, Wycombe manager Ainsworth spoke about the balance between looking after his own side and keeping tracks on the other key games:

Wycombe are very unlikely to win automatic promotion given the points gap and how many teams they need to fail, so they will be looking for Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth or Oxford to drop points

As Plymouth host Sunderland on the 18th, dropped points are bound to happen but those four also have four games against the top three sides in the divisiion, Wigan, MK Dons and Rotherham, who will surely take points off them.

Wycombe have a somewhat easier run in and Wednesday probably are at the top of the ‘catchables’ list as Wycombe can inflict at least one defeat on them.

The Owls have two games in hand, starting with the trip to MK Dons. Before they arrive, Wycombe visit the Wombles of Wimbledon on Monday.

Regardless of how Wednesday fare at Miltom Keynes, it still looks like a must win for Ainsworth against one of his former clubs whose battling qualities as a team and a club are legendary.

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