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West Brom v Wycombe Wanderers FA Cup 2nd Round - Replay Tuesday 15th December 1992

(research and memories by Paul Lewis - first published December 2002 to mark the 10th anniversary and revised in December 2017 for the 25th annivesary) Wanderers earned this replay at The Hawthorns thanks to a dramatic 2-2 draw at Adams Park on Sunday 6th December 1992. And like the first game, the Sky TV cameras were there to see what would again prove to an enthralling cup tie. Close to 5,000 Wycombe fans travelled to see if Wanderers could earn a home Third Round tie with West Ham. For Wanderers former Baggie trainee Andy Kerr returned to the side following suspension while on loan Brentford midfielder Paul Buckle earned his first start in a Wycombe shirt. West Brom had been hit with the loss of Simon Garner through injury. Martin O'Neill choose to play a five man midfield that saw Steve Thompson excel. It was from Thompson's pass on 28 minutes that Wycombe created the best opening of the first half - Keith Scott bending a right foot shot against the outside of the upright. At the other end Gary Strodder headed against the underside of Paul Hyde's cross four minutes before the end of a goalless first half. Half-time 0-0 With Wanderers kicking towards the massed Buckinghamshire ranks on the open terrace there was now a real belief that Wycombe could win this. Thompson saw a header from Steve Guppy's free-kick headed off the line on 49 minutes but eventually The Baggies began to press. There were just eight minutes remaining when Wanderers hearts were broken as Guppy lost possession too close to his own penalty area and Bob Taylor whipped in a low shot past Hyde. As Wanderers pushed for an equaliser the home side had further chances to kill off the tie but the best chance fell to O'Neill's men when substitute Simon Hutchinson beat two men down the right flank and delivered a cross to the near post that Scott flicked his head at and Guppy was literally a fraction of inch to connecting with at the far post - it was agonising for those packed behind the goal and moments later the final whistle blew to end Wycombe's interest in the Cup for another season. The 17,460 crowd gave Wycombe a standing ovation as they realised they had seen something special from a team that would surely grace the Football League come the following August. Full-time West Brom 1 Wycombe 0 West Brom: Naylor; Reid, Lilwall, Bradley, Raven, Strodder, Donovan, Hamilton, Taylor, McNally, Robson (sub 73 Heggs) - sub not used: Ampadu Wycombe: Hyde, Cousins, Crossley, Kerr, Creaser, Thompson Carroll, Buckle, (sub 60 Hutchinson) Stapleton, Scott, Guppy - sub not used: Green Attendance: 17,640 The plaudits for Wycombe poured in from the national media after the game while Martin O'Neill could not hide his disappointment "After all my years in football I'm still surprised to lose any game in which my team a has played so well. I was even thinking ahead to how we'd play West Ham, and then we ruined it all by giving away a bad goal." But the Wycombe boss has other priorities "I still feel the hardest thing for us to do is getting out of the Vauxhall Conference. It's the toughest thing the club will have ever have to do in its history" Video memories [Next from 1992/93 - FA Trophy trail starts]

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