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Bristol City 0
Tuesday 21st October 2003
Football League Division Two
Gavin Holligan Wanderers registered a long overdue victory on Tuesday evening with a resounding 3-0 success over Bristol City at Adams Park. The visitors had been reduced to ten men before Gavin Holligan opened the scoring on 40 minutes with his first goal of the season. Holligan added a second on 68 minutes when he re-directed Stuart Roberts shot from the right in to the Valley End net and after another red card for City, Jermaine McSporran capped the victory with the goal of the evening in stoppage time.
As expected caretaker boss John Gorman made changes to the Wanderers' forward line for the visit of City - McSporran and Holligan coming in for Andy Bell and Keith Ryan. And the changes were justified as Wanderers won in the League for the first time since the opening day of the season and in the process hauled themselves off the foot of the table.
Holligan should have given Wanderers the lead in the opening 20 seconds when he was put through on goal down the right side but he chipped his shot agonisingly wide of the far post. City responded with Luke Wilkshire toe poking an effort over from the right edge of the box in the 6th minute while on 12 minutes Lee Peacock beat the offside trap down the right wing but shot wide of the opposite hand post with the goal at his mercy.
Holligan shot over an effort on the turn from 20 yards in the 14th minute before McSporran was unfortunate to find himself in the book for a sliding tackle on Steve Phillips that sent the City 'keeper into the advertising boards.
The game probably swung on an incident in the 38th minute when Wanderers' task was made slightly easier when City Captain Tommy Doherty was red-carded for an attempted head-butt on a Wycombe player. Dannie Bulman's retaliation survived with just a yellow card and two minutes later Danny Senda's searching cross from the right saw Holligan's downward header have enough on it to beat Steve Phillips in the City goal and set Wanderers on their way to a confidence boosting victory for players and fans alike.
Half-time Wycombe 1 City 0
Wanderers continued to have the better chances in the second-half and clever piece of play on 54 minutes starting with a throw on the left from Chris Vinnicombe saw McSporran cross, Darren Currie lay the ball off to Michael Simpson but 'Simo' chose to cross when shooting may have been a better option.
Stuart Roberts was introduced for Steve Brown on 65 minutes and it injected even more pace into Wanderers attack. Juse three minutes later a centre by Simpson from the left found Roberts in space on the right and when the resulting shot looking to going wide of the far post, Holligan stuck out a leg to direct the ball home.
This was the goal that finally relieved the pressure from a Wycombe side that had not won in the previous 14 League games. After Danny Coles had been booked for a foul on Holligan, Wycombe could have grabbed a third on 78 minutes when Bulman's free-kick from the right found an unmarked Andy Thomson at the far post but the former Bristol Rovers player headed straight at the 'keeper from six yards.
There was a brief threat from the visitors when Withshire fired over from close range on 79 minutes but it was the story of the evening for City as the finished the game without having seriously tested Frank Talia and when the Wanderers 'keeper wasn't there Senda, Vinnicombe, Branston and Thomson were all there to cover.
The game ended with Wanderers well on top. Another Roberts cross from the right with two minutes remaining saw Currie head over at the far post and by the time Danny Coles had been sent off for a second bookable offence in the 89th minute it was left to McSporran to put the icing on the cake with a cracking goal from the left flank after a through ball by Bulman.
Full-time Wycombe 3 Bristol City 0
Wycombe: Wycombe: Talia, Senda, Branston, Thomson, Vinnicombe, Currie, Bulman, Simpson, Brown (sub 65 Roberts), Holligan, McSporran - subs not used: Williams, Bell, Ryan, Mapes
Bookings: McSporran (foul 20), Bulman (ungentlemanly conduct 38)
Scorers: Holligan (40,68), McSporran (93)
Bristol City: Phillips, Carey, Butler, Coles, Bell (sub 88 Woodman), Wilkshire, Aaron Brown (sub 31 Burnell), Doherty, Tinnion, Peacock, Miller (sub HT Roberts) - subs not used Stowell, Lita
Bookings: Coles (foul 74)
Red Cards: Doherty (violent conduct 38), Coles (foul, second bookable 89)
Referee: Mike Fletcher Attendance: 4,613 (away end 752)
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