Sykes bags Wembley goal, but promotion belongs to Chairboys
WEMBLEY joy for Mark Sykes turned into play-off pain as Wycombe Wanderers sealed promotion to the Championship.
Northern Ireland international Sykes looked to have breathed new life into Oxford United’s hopes with a 58th minute goal at the home of English football.
The former Glenavon midfielder’s finish cancelled out an early strike by Anthony Stewart for the Chairboys, who did not included Sykes’ international team-mate Paul Smyth in their panel.
Although Oxford bossed possession after Sykes’ equaliser, they were caught with a late sucker punch when Joe Jacobson kept his nerve to score from the penalty spot and secure a first-ever promotion to the second tier for Gareth Ainsworth’s side.
Wycombe got off to the perfect start when, with less than 10 minutes on the clock, Stewart headed home a Jacobson corner.
Wycombe’s resolute defending continued in the second half but Oxford looked to edge closer towards an equaliser.
Oxford’s control eventually paid off in the 57 th minute.
Sykes drove down the right, before looping the ball towards the goal and it flew over Ryan Allsop and into the back of the net to level the score.
A crazy passage of football led to Wycombe taking the lead for the second time with 11 minutes remaining.
An inviting free-kick from the Chairboys saw their players appeal for a penalty before Oxford almost hit them on the counter.
The U’s thought Wycombe full-back Jack Grimmer had controlled the ball out of play before
passing back to goalkeeper Allsop, who launched a long punt downfield.
Oxford defender Elliott Moore left the ball for goalkeeper Eastwood to collect but Fred Onyedinma got there first before getting clattered inside the penalty area.
The referee pointed to the spot, with Jacobson stepping up and converting down the middle to seal the win.
“It’s ridiculous. I can’t believe what we’ve just done,” said Jacobson (left). “To go back 11 months, first day of pre-season, nine players, favourites for relegation.
“Where we’ve got to now is ridiculous. It’s stupid what we’ve done today. But that’s us, that’s Wycombe to a ‘T’”. Boss Ainsworth, drenched in champagne after joyous celebrations with his players, paid tribute to his players.
“That was just amazing, you know,” he said. “We can’t afford the best footballing players, but heart and determination and that was a Wycombe performance.