Wycombe 4 Grimsby 1

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 03/01/2004

THE poorest performance of the season saw Town capitulate 4-1 this afternoon to basement club Wycombe Wanderers. The defeat was the final blow for many Grimsby supporters, a substantial proportion of whom who were calling for manager Paul Groves' head come the final whistle.

Paul Groves chose to start the game with right back John McDermott playing at left back and left-sided defender Greg Young on the bench. Marcel Cas continued at right back, where he had played out of position as a replacement for the injured McDermott against Peterborough.

Town's back four looked shaky from the start of the game, and the Chairboys took just six minutes to open their account, when on-loan Villa striker Luke Moore nudged a cross past Aidan Davison.

Town, however, took just three minutes to equalise when Phil Jevons' inch-perfect cross to Iffy Onuora was nodded in by the big striker.

Wycombe went back in front in the 28th minute with a superb volley by McSporran from a Currie cross, a goal that was applauded by several away fans, and no doubt will be a contender for goal of the season.

Wycombe's players, fired up for the game by the press comments of under-fire boss Tony Adams, received four bookings in the first half and it could have been more had the referee been less lenient.

Town made no changes at half time, and it continued to get worse in the second half, with Wycombe having most of the play and growing in confidence. Moore put the game out of reach shortly after the break from a cross, and the Villa striker went on to grab his hattrick in the final minute which a well taken finish curling the ball past Aidan Davison.

In between the two second half goals Town looked slightly better when Greg Young came on as a second half substitute for Stuart Campbell, with John McDermott resuming his normal right back slot, and Marcel Cas moving into midfield. However, Grimsby's only chance of the game against the Division's bottom side was Onuora's header early in the game, and once again they lacked inspiration and rarely looked like scoring.

The Town players left the field with boos ringing in their ears and calls for the manager to go on a far greater scale than seen before since Paul Groves took over the position two years ago. Recent results have seen any hopes of getting into the play-offs all but evaporate, and in fact a second consecutive relegation looks more than a possibility at the present time.

Next up is top of the table Plymouth Argyle on Saturday at Blundell Park, who today beat Chesterfield 7-0.

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