Oxford United 2 Wycombe Wanderers 2 – All Over Now

Alfie Potter was very possibly the most miserable looking footballer I have seen this season when he was interviewed after the game.

Winger Potter scored one and forced central defender to turn the ball past his own keeper for Oxford’s second, but Wycombe’s fight back earned them a draw and another valuable promotion point.

Potter ran out the usual “while it’s still mathematically possible” line, but you could tell that he knew the game was up as far as this season was concerned.

He’s an honest lad though and pointed out that even though there is very little league experience in the Oxford squad, he felt that they should’ve done better this season. And he also told me that he felt the team would perform a lot better next term because of the experience and I have to agree with him.

My clipping from this morning’s copy of The Sun

Chris Wilder was left fuming about the first time penalty decision that went against his team after James Constable was hauled down in the box and I’ve got to say that I agree with him. Constable was still seething at the break and muttering pleasantries into the referee’s ear.

The manager also had the good grace to admit that he had probably made a mistake taking Constable off in the second half, but to be fair to Chris, he’s also on a bit of a learning curve this season and once the dust settles in mid-May, I think most Oxford fans will want to see how he fares next season. Personally I think they’d be crazy to drop the pilot at this stage. They’ve chopped and changed managers before at the Kassam and it resulted in non-league football.

Meanwhile, the Wycombe players and management were in great spirits.

Boss Gary Waddock is still “talking each game as it comes”, but must have the taste of the promotion champagne in his mouth by now. There’s still a bit to do, but keeper Nikki Bull (who was my man of the match) told me that “three more wins should do it”.

And Scott Rendell, who scored the Chairboys first goal, pointed to the excellent spirit in the camp when he revealed:

“We had 23 players in the dressing room geeing us on before the game. Some of them obviously knew they weren’t playing, but they were still there for us and that speaks volumes. J-P (Jon-Paul Pittman) himself hasn’t played a lot this season because of injuries, but he was ready to come on and got the equalizer.”

It was a shame that Gareth Ainsworth didn’t make an appearance on Saturday. Wycombe’s 37 year old winger/skipper told me that he had felt his hamstring tighten up after the midweek fixture against Hartlepool and so, with the Easter fixtures coming up, it had been decided to rest him for the Oxford game.

This was a great game to watch from a neutral’s perspective and while I can well imagine the frustration Oxford fans are feeling now, it hasn’t been a disastrous season, just another step in the right direction. Not as big a step as some would like, sure, but not a backward one like so many taken in recent years.