Argyle cannot hold onto half-time lead in Wycombe draw

There would have been a sense of disappointment for the Pilgrims that they could not hold onto, or build, on the 1-0 half-time lead they had, which came after a fine 26th minute finish from Will Evans, for his first goal for the club after his recent transfer from Mansfield Town.

Argyle were the better side in the first period, despite losing key midfielder Malachi Boateng to an early injury, but Wycombe came into it after the interval and deserved a point in the end.

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That was secured by a 76th minute set piece header from Connor Taylor after Ewan Henderson curled a free-kick into the penalty area.

There were two changes to Argyle’s starting line-up from the defeat by Stockport, with Julio Pleguezuelo taking over at centre-back from Alex Mitchell while Xavier Amaechi was selected instead of Matty Sorinola.

Tom Cleverley had spoken in his pre-match Press conference on Thursday about managing ‘the load’ of Mitchell after the defender was substituted at half-time against Stockport due to a knee issue.

That came after Mitchell had only limited involvement in pre-season at Charlton Athletic before his transfer to the Pilgrims and then had a lot of game time in a relatively short period of time.

Amaechi played wide on the right of midfield for Argyle, who had Caleb Watts among their substitutes after his recovery from an ankle injury.

Watts was a different midfield option for Cleverley after the transfer of Brendan Wiredu to League Two side Salford City on Friday.

For the home side, goalkeeper Conor Hazard made a second successive League One at the start of the season after moving to Wycombe from Argyle over the summer.

Hazard was in front of the 1,500-strong travelling Green Army for the first half and did not get a good reception from them as Argyle won the coin toss and chose to play towards the away end.

Boateng, making his 48th consecutive league start for the Pilgrims, was on the receiving end of an early late tackle from Wycombe’s Jamie Mullins and needed treatment from physio Gareth Law.

Boateng eventually walked slowly off the pitch and had to be replaced by Bradkey Ibrahim in only the eighth minute, immediately after Argyle goalkeeper Murphy Cooper tipped a shot from Mullins onto the top of the bar and out for a corner.

Argyle had to defend a free-kick just outside their penalty area after a clumsy challenge from Mathias Ross on Silko Thomas but Ewan Henderson curled an angled shot harmlessly over the bar from what was a good position.

Ronan Curtis, playing on the left of midfield for Argyle, had their first scoring opportunity in the 21st minute when he broke forward and cut inside onto his right foot before firing narrowly over the bar from 20 yards out.

Argyle did take the lead in the 25th minute, though, with a terrific left-foot shot on the turn from Evans inside the Wycombe box, with the ball flying past Hazard at tremendous speed.

Curtis needed treatment after taking a knock to his head and there was an impromptu drinks break for both sets of players on what was a hot afternoon in Buckinghamshire.

Cooper comfortably saved a header from Wycombe striker Fred Onyedinma before Hazard had to push an inswinging corner from Curtis over the bar from almost on the line.

Hazard also did well to punch clear a couple of other threatening Argyle corners before Evans fired into the net again in first half added time but was flagged offside after making his run a fraction too soon.

Wycombe sent on striker Cauley Woodrow for winger Junior Quitirna for the start of the second period, with Onyedinma moving to the right side for the hosts.

Cooper had to push away a low shot from Woodrow for a corner as Wanderers made a fast start after the interval before the substitute had a great chance to equalise but from close range he glanced the ball well wide.

At the other end of the pitch, Curtis pulled a low shot wide from a central position after Wycombe turned the ball over deep inside their own half.

Wycombe sent on Emre Tezgel as a substitute for Mullins before White curled a left-footed 25-yard free-kick over the bar from a central position for the Pilgrims.

Amaechi also had an off-target strike from distance and there was then a big let-off for Cooper when the Argyle goalkeeper failed to hold onto a low shot from Daniel Harvie and Tezgel slotted home but the assistant referee flagged for offside.

The Pilgrims then almost doubled their lead when Evans and Bim Pepple both had attempts on goal blocked inside the penalty area from the same attack.

Watts was sent on as a 64th minute substitute for Amaechi and Wycombe had the next scoring chance when Onyedinma touched the ball wide at the far post after an inviting cross from Harvie.

Ibrahim shot narrowly wide from 25 yards out for Argyle before Mitchell came off the bench to replace Pleguezuelo in central defence soon afterwards.

Watts also had an attempt from outside the Wycombe box which went wide before Argyle captain Wes Harding was yellow-carded for a foul on Thomas close to the angle of the penalty area.

The resulting free-kick was curled in by Henderson and Taylor powerfully headed home a 76th minute equaliser for Wycombe as Cooper could not reach the ball high to his left.

Argyle still had four unused substitutes but could not make any more changes because they had used up their permitted windows to send on Ibrahim, Watts and Mitchell.

Evans dropped to a wide left role, with Watts playing behind Pepple, as Wycombe pushed hard for another goal in the closing stages of the game.

Hazard confidently caught an inswinging corner from Curtis as the match went into six minutes of added time with the final outcome still very much in the balance.

Wycombe nearly grabbed a second goal when Harvie headed just wide after a cross from substitute Aaron Morley and that was as close as either team came to getting a late winner.

ARGYLE: Murphy Cooper; Wes Harding, Mathias Ross, Julio Pleguezuelo (Alex Mitchell 70 mins), Alex Hartridge; Xavier Amaechi (Caleb Watts 64 mins), Malachi Boateng (Bradley Ibrahim 8 mins), Harvey White, Ronan Curtis; Harvey Evans, Bim Pepple.

Substitutes (not used): James Storer, Caleb Roberts, Tegan Finn, Matty Sorinola

WYCOMBE: Conor Hazard; Jack Grimmer (Sam Parker 68 mins), Connor Taylor, Steve Cook, Daniel Harvie; Ewan Henderson, Josh Scowen (Caolan Boyd-Munce 68 mins); Junior Quitirna (Cauley Woodrow h/t), Jamie Mullins (Emre Tezgel 57 mins), Silko Thomas; Fred Onyedinma (Aaron Morley 82 mins).

Substitutes (not used): Mikki van Sas, Dan Casey.

REFEREE: Neil Hair

ATTENDANCE: 6,065 (1,539)

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