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As expected Lawrie Sanchez, in charge of his 200th competitive match at Wycombe, made changes to his line-up for this game. The defence went to a back five with Danny Senda returning from suspension in place of Mark Rogers, while Roger Johnson joined McCarthy and Andy Thomson in the central roles. The biggest shock was the absence of Darren Currie and Sean Devine from the starting line-up - Andy Rammell returning from his suspension to join Craig Faulconbridge as the attacking pair. Martin Taylor returned in goal after his injury in favour of stand-in Frank Talia. It was Brentford who opened the livelier side but there was little action for Taylor on an afternoon where both keeper's were rarely troubled. However, it was Wycombe who came closest to scoring in the opening exchanges. A 15th minute corner from the right by Michael Simpson was met by the head of Thomson at the far side of the penalty area but the ex-Bristol Rovers player saw the ball to scrape off the far post and away from danger. Brentford responded after 20 minutes when Vine cut in from the right but the resulting cross saw Mark McCammon completely mis-kick from eight yards. However, Taylor was also drawn into a rare piece of action when he picked out Vine's shot on 35 minutes. Only a brilliant save by Paul Smith in first half stoppage time prevented Wycombe taking the lead - Danny Bulman's snap shot from around 20 yards being pushed away for a corner on the left due thanks to a full length dive. Thomson will have been disappointed to have headed wide of the target at the far post from the resulting corner. Half-time Brentford 0 Wycombe 0 Kicking towards a healthy contingent of around 1,000 Wycombe fans on the open Griffin Park terrace, there were loud claims for a penalty on 54 minutes when the Brentford defence seemed to control the ball with a hand, However, the officials waved away the appeals and a minute later Wycombe were behind when McCarthy felled Vine in what appeared a pretty clear cut decision at the other end. Hunt stuck away the spot kick off the underside of the left corner of the crossbar. Lawrie Sanchez made a triple substitution on 73 minutes in an effort to force an equaliser. Currie, Roberts and Devine were introduced as the defence reverted to a back four and it was Wycombe who finished the stronger side with even McCarthy joining the forwards in search of a goal. Within a minute of the substitutions Rammell was furious that he hadn't won a penalty when he tumbled over following a challenge by Roget. A penalty would have a generous decision but moments later Wycombe had their best chance to draw level when Roberts was presented with the ball on the left side of the penalty area but the Welshman compounded his torrid time in front of goal by slicing the effort wide from around 12 yards. The miss probably summed up Wycombe's current plight in a game that neither side deserved to win and one which struggled to provide any significant entertainment for the crowd. Final Score Brentford 1 Wycombe 0
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