Chairboys’ Knight in shining armour
DELIGHTED boss Gareth Ainsworth saluted his courageous side as Josh Knight’s late winner helped struggling Wycombe claim a superb comeback win at Huddersfield.
The hosts led 2-0 thanks to goals from Juninho Bacuna and Isaac Mbenza, but the bottom-of-the-table visitors showed incredible character to turn the contest on its head.
Goals from Anis Mehmeti, Joe Jacobson and Knight completed a stunning turnaround as Wycombe claimed their first away win at Huddersfield for 26 years.
“That’s an awesome day for us,” hailed Ainsworth. “I’m really proud of the boys. They were outstanding.
“It’s been a really tough month, but we proved that we can compete, it’s just about doing it consistently. The boys were superb, in the second half especially.
“The goal before half-time was absolutely crucial. It gave us so much belief and I thought in the second half there was only one team in it. I’m really proud of the boys.”
Victory was Wycombe’s first away league win since the start of November and ended a run of four league games without a win.
“Everybody expects us to go down, but we’re going to keep on fighting from now until the end of the season,” added Ainsworth. “We had a big meeting last week and it got all the boys feeling great about themselves.”
The hosts took the lead in the 18th minute some poor defending allowed an unmarked Bacuna to head home the easiest of goals from a Fraizer Campbell cross,
That lead was doubled four minutes before the break when Mbenza cut inside his marker and found the bottom right corner.
But the Chairboys were handed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time as Mehmeti fired into the bottom right corner.
After the break, Daryl Horgan shot inches wide with a warning shot, before the visitors levelled from the spot in the 63rd minute.
Jonathan Hogg felled Uche Ikpeazu with a clumsy challenge and Wycombe skipper Jacobson, restored to the starting line-up, smashed home to restore parity.
But the best was yet to come when Leicester loanee Knight smashed home with three minutes remaining to secure the stunning comeback win and the Chairboys first away league win for three months.
Frustrated Huddersfield coach Carlos Corberan blamed a lack of confidence for his side squandering a healthy lead.
“It was an awful game, more than a disaster. We are in a relegation battle now,’ he admitted. “I think we did really well in the first 40 minutes of the game because we controlled it.
“But after we scored the second goal we didn’t have the confidence to win it (the match), we started to play with some doubts.
“The goal we conceded before half-time created those doubts. My feeling was that the team didn’t have enough confidence to win.”