Matchday Essentials 2002-2003 Click here for the latest match previews and reports
Click here for your Rough Guide to Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers 2 Click here for Quick Guide
Swindon Town 3
Saturday 2nd November 2002
Football League Division Two
Sam Parkin
Sam Parkin - two goals against his former team mates including the winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
A goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time by Sam Parkin saw Swindon snatch all three points from an end-to-end encounter at a rain lashed Adams Park. Jimmy Davis had given the visitors the lead on 12 minutes when he was given too much freedom down the left channel but Wycombe were level five minutes later when Craig Faulconbridge headed in at the far post after Michael Simpson's corner from the left was flicked on.
Wanderers survived a spell of Swindon pressure early in the second-half before Andy Rammell side-footed home Simpson's cross from the right bye-line on 73 minutes to give Wycombe the lead. However, Swindon responded and Danny Invincibile's powerful cross from the left on 79 minutes saw Parkin smash the ball home off the underside of Frank Talia's crossbar.
Wanderers could have won it in the 89th minute but Faulconbridge's flick header was brilliantly saved by Bart Griemink in the Swindon goal. Then in the dying moments Talia made an equally spectacular save but Parkin was on hand to put one over his former team mates by converting the rebound.
Team news saw Lawrie Sanchez make three changes from the side that beaten Chesterfield in the week. The suspended Paul McCarthy and Sean Devine were replaced respectively by Mark Rogers and Andy Rammell while Darren Currie returned to the starting line-up ahead of Lewis Cook.
The end result turned out to be a major disappointment for all connected with Wycombe. Three consecutive home victories leading up to the meeting with fourth from bottom Swindon and an encouraging start to the game had given hope that this could be a kick board for the rest of the season.
Wanderers began the game well. On 3 minutes Mark Rogers chipped a ball through to Faulconbridge down the right channel and a corner was won. Simpson's resulting delivery then saw Faulconbridge send a full length diving header just wide of the near post.
However, despite the early promise it was the visitors who scored from their first serious attack after 12 minutes. Matt Heywood's long through ball found Davis on the left side of the Wanderers penalty area and the 19 year old on loan Manchester United striker flicked the ball low past the dive of Talia and into the far corner of the Valley End net.
Not put off by the set-back Wanderers were level five minutes later. Currie showed some magic on the right but was stopped in his tracks to earn a free-kick just to the right side of the Swindon penalty area. Simpson's free-kick ended with Dannie Bulman's shot being deflected for a corner on the opposite flank. Simpson was then the provider again and when the ball was flicked on, Faulconbridge was perfectly positioned at the far post to head home from around six yards for his first goal in nine league outings.
Wanderers best spell of the game followed. A great exchange between Senda and Currie down the right wing on 27 minutes brought no end product but it did prompt warm applause from the 6,000 plus crowd. Eight minutes before the break Faulconbridge, enjoying on his best games in a Wycombe shirt, flicked the ball through to Rammell just left of centre but with conditions under foot becoming increasingly difficult due to the torrential rain, 'Rambo' slipped just as the chance was opening up.
On the stroke of half-time it was the tricky Davis who got the better of Senda down the Swindon left before seeing a low shot deflected wide for a corner on the opposite wing. Parkin was disappointed to miss with a header at the far post from the resulting dead ball but his time was to come later in the game.
Half-time 1-1
Again Wanderers started the half brightly but then allowed the visitors to enjoy an extended spell of pressure leading up to the hour mark. Frenchman Eric Sabin shot wide on 56 minutes and a minute later Parkin forced Talia into a quality stop before Andy Gurney headed over at the far post.
Up to this point most of Wycombe's play had been channelled down the right. The introduction of Lewis Cook in the 64th minute resolved that issue but it was at the expense of right side specialist Darren Currie. However, despite all the puzzled looks Wanderers took the lead on 73 minutes following a move down the right channe. The ball was fed forward to Simpson who made a telling cross from the right bye-line and Rammell was there to side-foot the ball home from a central position for his third goal in two games.
You really thought this was Wycombe's day and a first ever League victory over Swindon was on the cards. An intense spell of pressure from the visitors had been fought off and Wanderers now led the game for the first time.
However, the visitors could not be tamed and when substitute and former Wanderers transfer target Danny Invincibile sent in a low left wing cross on 79 minutes Parkin was there to convert ahead of the Wanderers defence.
It was now anyones game and there were chances at either end. Talia was quick off his line to block on 83 minutes while two minutes later Roger Johnson replaced Andy Rammell as Wycombe went to a back three. Faulconbridge's header looked a certain goal on 89 minutes before Griemink leaped to save. The thin dividing line between victory and defeat was then made clear when Parkin scored at the end where his goal against Wolves in the FA Cup had been greeted with the biggest ever roar at Adams Park. This time it was the 600 or so Swindon fans who were signing in the rain while Wanderers fans were left to anaylise another day of bizarre formations, substitutions and tactics and Assistant Manager Terry Gibson was left to field the press conference after a rapid exit by Lawrie Sanchez.
Gibson concluded his comments by saying "We have to start again, we have to get back to square one. I've been saying to the players, and Lawrie has been saying for the last six or seven games, particularly since the Sheffield Unitedd match, that we have worked hard and at times today it looked as though they were working harder than us. We have worked hard recently and have let our standards drop a little bit today. Against a hard working team, such as Swindon, we were unable to match them. The reason we have played so well recently is that every player has worked their socks off.... and perhaps today we have gone below our standards."
Final Score Wycombe 2 Swindon 3
Wycombe: Talia, Senda, Thomson, Rogers, Vinnicombe, Ryan, Simpson, Currie (sub 64 Cook), Bulman (sub 68 Brown), Rammell (sub 85 Johnson), Faulconbridge subs not used: Harris, Dixon
Yellow Cards: Rammell (foul 34), Senda (foul 38)
Swindon: Griemink, Heywood, Gurney, Reeves, Davis, Robinson, Jackson, Hewlett, Duke, Parkin, Sabin (sub 68 Invincibile) subs not used: Edds, Willis, Miglioranzi, Farr
Yellow Cards: Hewlett (foul 64)
Referee: Phil Joslin (Newark) Attendance: 6,021 (637 away end)
Interactive Stats
Match and players
All the Wycombe results, scorers, team line-ups and statistical breakdown of the current season - FULLY INTERACTIVE to your heart's content.
Latest Table and form Updated table with results archive of ALL Division Two games plus form guide and previous meeting between ALL clubs for the past four seasons.
Squad Info
Quick Links

Chairboys on the Net - click here to reload from the top
Match Report Archive.
Current season plus all matches back to July 1996 >>>
Click here for Quick Guide Quick Guide to The Robins
Past meetings, connections, web links and more
Visit The Gas Room"Was our reporter at the same game? Have your say!!"
Click here other results on this dayOn This Day
More Wycombe results from 2nd November
All match reports © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,2000, 2001, 2002
Chairboys on the Net - Not to be reproduced without our written permission.


Back To Top

Chairboys on the Net All there is to say and know about Wycombe Wanderers on the Internet
HOME||||INDEX||||ROUGH GUIDE||||NEWS||||REPORTS||||FIXTURES&RESULTS||||INTERACT