PARIS IS PERFECTION – DOBSON
WYCOMBE assistant boss Richard Dobson couldn’t get enough of Paris Cowan-Hall after the winger’s fabulous 25-yard strike gave the league leaders a valuable point at Accrington.
Cowan-Hall’s early strike was cancelled out by Sean Maguire’s header after the break as the Chairboys opened up a two-point lead at the top of League Two.
And Dobson, who was standing in for sick manager Gareth Ainsworth, was delighted with 24-year old Cowan-Hall’s display.
“He’s lively and a goal threat who makes things happen,” he said.“He’s becoming a game-changer and once again he scored an excellent goal.
“I’ve been really pleased with him. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s interest in him and I take that as a compliment.
“We started really well and probably should have put the game to bed in that spell. When you miss good chances early on, it can come back to bite us and that’s what happened.
“Unfortunately, they scored from a set piece which I was disappointed about. I don’t think they troubled us too much from open play and were quite reliant upon set-pieces.”
Wycombe started brightly and deservedly took the lead on nine minutes. Cowan-Hall struck a wonderful 25-yard curler into the top corner for his fifth goal of the season.
The Chairboys continued to look dangerous and almost grabbed a second when centre-back Aaron Pierre saw a header cleared off the line before Cowan-Hall fired over. A fast-flowing Wycombe move soon followed when a lovely one-two between winger Sam Wood and striker Matthew McClure ended with the latter stabbing narrowly over.
Wycombe threatened with a series of corners at the beginning of the second half but Accrington equalised against the run of the play. Kal Naismith’s free-kick from the left was powerfully headed home by midfielder Maguire.
The hosts soon grew in confidence and continued to cause mayhem with set pieces as goalkeeper Matt Ingram tipped over a goalbound header from John O’Sullivan.
Both sides looked for a winner in a highly competitive finale. Accrington midfielder Andrew Procter saw a close-range effort well saved by Ingram before the impressive Cowan- Hall saw a thunderous low drive parried away by Lee Simpson.
And Accrington boss John Coleman said: “At half-time, we wanted to be a little more direct, compete better and get our players higher up the field. When we did that, we caused them numerous problems.
“Wycombe are the best at the moment and deservedly top of the league. We pushed them all the way and on another day we could have won the game.
“We’re four points outside the play-offs now and our lads believe we have a realistic chance of making it.”