Shrewsbury Town 1-4 Wycombe Wanderers: FLW report as Gareth Ainsworth's Chairboys reunion turns sour

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·14 December 2024

Shrewsbury Town 1-4 Wycombe Wanderers: FLW report as Gareth Ainsworth's Chairboys reunion turns sour

Action from Croud Meadow as Matt Bloomfield faced his former manager, Gareth Ainsworth, for the first time.

Wycombe Wanderers battered Shrewsbury Town 4-1 at Croud Meadow on Saturday afternoon thanks to goals from Bez Lubala, Caleb Taylor, Fred Onyedinma and Daniel Udoh, making sure that they remained at the summit of the League One table.

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It was a strange day for the Wycombe fans, as they were re-united with former manager Gareth Ainsworth for the first time since he left the club in February 2023. It was also the first meeting between him and his replacement, Matt Bloomfield.

The hosts started well in what was a very bitty opening ten minutes. A succession of corners were well defended by Wycombe, which would be important throughout the affair, as an Ainsworth side know how to make set-pieces count.

With their first real opportunity, Wycombe took the lead. Jasper Pattenden won possession high up the pitch from Taylor Perry. The right-back played in Cameron Humphreys who wriggled his way to the byline. A lovely dinked cross was met by the head of Bez Lubala, who netted his third goal in his last three matches.

There was a warm welcome back for former Salop favourite Daniel Udoh, who was serenaded by his former fans whilst warming up on the touchline. It was certainly a day of reunion at Croud Meadow.

The home fans believed that Daniel Harvie should've had a red card, after he accidentally caught Tom Bloxham in the face in a tussle for the ball. The Wycombe left-back then kicked the ball at Luca Hoole, which caused a brawl right in front of the fourth official. Harvie was given a yellow card, as it looked like both incidents were unintentional.

Joe Low nearly gifted Shrewsbury an equalizer. A shoddy back pass to Ravizzoli allowed Bloxham to charge the loose ball down. However, the Argentine was quick off his line to bail his teammate out.

Wanderers doubled their advantage in second-half stoppage time. West Brom loanee Caleb Taylor with his first Wycombe goal. A simple corner into the box bounced around, and the defender was there to tap home. Breathing space for the Chairboys.

Boos rang around three of the four sides of the Meadow at half-time, as Shrewsbury had shown little in terms of attacking output, whilst defending poorly for both of Wycombe's goals. Aaron Pierre was fuming as his side walked off the pitch. The ex-Chairboy had some strong words for his defensive colleagues.

Both managers opted to remain unchanged at the start of the second half. It was a bit of a shock that the Shrews didn't introduce a fresh pair of legs, as they needed to find an early goal to get back in the game.

Aaron Morley had a chance to make it three when Fred Onyedinma pounced on a loose pass and bombed down the right-flank. His ball into Richard Kone was teed up for the Bolton loanee, who smashed one over the bar.

The first changes of the match were for the visitors. Goalscorer Lubala and creator, Humphries came off, with Udoh and Garath McCleary joining the action.

Another mistake from Low almost gifted Shrewsbury a way back into the game. The Welshman was out muscled by John Marquis who was clean through on goal. Fortunately, Ravizzoli produced another superb stop to preserve the two-goal advantage.

A mix-up at the back almost saw the Shrews turn the ball into their own net, after a low cross from Kone was deflected goalwards.

The hosts thought they had one back when a deflected Mal Benning shot caught Ravizzoli wrong-footed. The Argentine got a glove to it, but Taylor Perry turned it home. However, the linesman had his flag up for offside.

Straight down the other end, Wycombe made it 3-0. McCleary played in Harvie, who teed it up to the back post. The arriving Onyedinma couldn't miss, heading home past Toby Savin.

The Shrews did get one back though, a brilliant low free-kick from substitute, Jordan Shipley, caught Ravizzoli off guard. His shot found the bottom corner.

Former Salop star, Udoh, then inflicted more misery on his former fans with a rampant finish to make it 4-1 to Wycombe. The home support chanted the forward's name as he celebrated with his new fans.

There was a mass exodus of home fans following the restoration of the three-goal lead. It was hard to blame them, as it'd been a very poor showing from their side.

After four minutes of stoppages, referee, Martin Coy, had decided he'd seen enough, putting the home fans out of their misery. Shrewsbury remain bottom of League One, ten points from safety, whilst Wycombe are now 17 unbeaten in league action, and still sitting pretty at the top of the pile.

In their first-ever meeting as managers, Bloomfield certainly got the better of his former boss.