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Southend promoted after Dan Bentley’s shootout heroics against Wycombe Southend promoted after Dan Bentley’s shootout heroics against Wycombe
(about 1 hour later)
After 46 league matches and 120 minutes of nerve-jangling tension at Wembley, these two teams still couldn’t be separated. But the nature of playoff season means that there always has to be a winner and on this occasion it was Southend who will take away fond memories of their trip to Wembley. For Wycombe, there was just despair. Having finished level on points during the regular season, it was fitting that they provided such a thrilling finale, with Sam Wood the unlucky fall guy as his penalty was saved by Dan Bentley in the shootout. But it could all have been so different for the Southend goalkeeper, whose own goal in extra-time had looked like sealing victory for Wycombe until Joe Pigott’s equaliser in the second minute of injury time. This match had been billed as a battle of the two music-loving managers, with Southend’s Phil Brown back at the stadium where he guided Hull to victory in the Championship playoff final seven years ago. Brown had complained this week that too much of the focus before this game had been on his previous role and not his team, whose supporters far outnumbered their counterparts from Buckinghamshire. Phil Brown certainly knows a thing or two about drama. With his Southend side looking like suffering playoff heartache for the third time in the last four seasons, the 55-year-old must have thought their luck was out. But less than an hour later, Brown was on the Wembley turf where he won promotion to the Premier League with Hull back in 2008 savouring the acclaim of his supporters as the Shrimpers finally ensured they will return to League One for the first time in five seasons. ‚
Having taken a break from fronting a heavy metal band called Road to Eden to concentrate on his day job, Wycombe’s Gareth Ainsworth certainly scrubbed up well in his matchday suit. But his best-laid plans took a turn for the worse inside the first 10 seconds as Sam Saunders was caught by a tackle from Will Atkinson and went down inside the centre circle. “You can’t write the script. I wouldn’t swap this day for anything,” Brown said. “It’s very difficult. The last time I was here with Hull it was a great day. This is even greater, but I feel desperately sorry for Wycombe because they’ve had a fabulous year.”
The 31-year-old Brentford loanee tried manfully to carry on but was forced to limp off to be replaced by club stalwart Matt Bloomfield. After 46 matches that saw them finish the season level on points in League Two was followed by 120 minutes of nerve-jangling tension at Wembley, these two teams could not be separated. They eventually were by the 16th penalty of a shootout that first saw Wycombe go ahead after Ben Coker’s effort was saved, only for misses from Matt Bloomfield and Sam Wood to give Southend victory.
Despite that setback, Wycombe went on the front foot in the opening exchanges but it was Southend who had the first real opportunity in the 14th minute as Barry Corr’s header was easily saved by Alex Lynch following a corner. The Shrimpers were always going to be a threat at set-pieces given their natural size advantage and Cian Bolger was the next to go close just two minutes later as his effort fizzed just wide. Unlike when he took to the microphone to celebrate Hull’s top-flight survival, however, this time Brown refused to break into a song and instead reserved his sympathy for opposite number Gareth Ainsworth, with whom he had stood shoulder to shoulder watching the shootout.
Corr thought he had finally given Southend the lead when he headed home another corner midway through the half, only for referee Simon Hooper to rule it out for Bolger’s innocuous push on Nico Yennaris. Despite dominating possession, Wycombe struggled to pick a way through their opponents and when a chance finally came their way five minutes before the break, skipper Paul Hayes could not take advantage. Brown said: “The one guy I feel for in this world is Gareth. It’s an awful way to end a season. We both said that we wouldn’t go overboard, whoever wins it. It’s in the lap of the gods, and it was. The young lads and the old lads showed a lot of character to win the game. To get the equaliser in the 122nd minute shows what we’re about. |
After such a timid opening 45 minutes, things could only improve in the second half and thankfully they did. Both sides immediately seemed to have more purpose going forward but again it was Southend who looked most likely to break the deadlock, with Stephen McLaughlin causing real problems down the left flank. “We’ve got to dust ourselves down in the summer and come back in League One. That’s what we set out to achieve at the start of the season and that’s what we’ve done today.”
One failed opportunity had Brown kicking out at the water bottles in frustration down on the touchline. His mood would not have improved when Corr wasted the best opportunity of the game just after the hour mark when he headed David Worrall’s inch-perfect cross straight at Lynch when the striker had time to take a touch. Ainsworth is no stranger to the world of music either, having given up rehearsing for his heavy metal band Road to Eden to concentrate on preparing his side for this match. Wycombe’s transformation from escaping relegation from the Football League last season to the brink of promotion 12 months later has been remarkable and their manager paid tribute to his players’ efforts. “It’s obviously devastating to lose but I’m ready now to build – we’ve had a phenomenal season,” he said. “The players have given it everything and haven’t got anything out of it but I’ll be telling to remember how far we have come in the last 12 months. I’m proud of them. We were part of a momentous battle today.”
Wycombe were lucky to escape conceding a penalty when Jacobson pushed Corr in the back as he jumped for the ball but again referee Hooper was on their side. Brown was not amused. At the other end, Wycombe began to build their own pressure and could have snatched it through Hayes, before Bentley tipped over Aaron Pierre’s header to force the game into extra-time. It was Ainsworth’s side who drew first blood as Jacobson’s free kick struck the bar and bounced in off the back of the unfortunate Bentley. Southend’s fans had probably given up hope as the clock ticked into the second minute of injury time but Pigott kept his cool after to ensure that this one would go the distance. A dour first half had ended with Southend feeling rightly aggrieved after being denied what looked a perfectly good goal from Barry Corr. They continued to create the better chances after the break and should have been awarded a penalty when Joe Jacobson pushed Corr in the box. But Wycombe also had their chances to win it in normal time and Brown was thankful for Dan Bentley’s last-ditch save from Aaron Pierre to take the game into extra time.
It looked as though the Southend keeper would have a day he would never forget for all the wrong reasons with just 24 seconds left on the clock. But substitute Joe Pigott kept his nerve to take the game to penalties and leave Wycombe wondering what might have been.