BEAN BAGS YET ANOTHER TO KEEP CHAIRBOYS ON THE LEVEL
Gaffer Gareth loses his cool...
GARETH Ainsworth admitted he had to draw on all his powers of motivation as he inspired his Wycombe side to salvage a point in the battle of two promotion hopefuls.
Lloyd James fired Exeter into a 12th-minute lead and it was clear that the seven-hour journey to Devon had taken its toll on an under-par Chairboys side.
But Ainsworth let rip at the interval, ordering his side to stop trying to play football on a boggy St James Park pitch and instead lump it into the box in pursuit of a route back into the match.
The half-time blast paid off as Marcus Bean popped up with a 53rd-minute leveller, a week after ending a personal 103-game goal drought in last Saturday’s victory over Carlisle.
The point keeps Wycombe in the automatic promotion places, while Exeter cling on to the last play-off spot.
Ainsworth said: “What did I say at half-time? Have you got your bleeping machine on you?
“It’s true I lost my rag at halftime. I told the boys that the pitch meant it wasn’t the right time to try and play.
“I am pleased with the reaction and we could have gone on and nicked it.
“The last six games have been easy sailing for me at half-time and full-time. But I have had to dig deep here and get into the boys.
“We were poor in the first half but our response merited a point.
“That’s two in two now for Marcus – or two in 105, whichever way you want to spin it!
“The boy’s on fire. I was just glad he was there to stick it in.”
The game was scrappy in the opening exchanges, a succession of long balls and misplaced passes suggesting this could be an ugly spectacle.
But Exeter’s opening goal was a thing of beauty after they were awarded a free-kick following a clumsy trip by Bean on Jayden Stockley.
James’s free-kick from wide out on the left kept on curling, evading a mass of bodies and flashing beyond the outstretched glove of Scott Brown. Only a last-ditch effort by Matt Bloomfield prevented Jordan Tillson from doubling Exeter’s lead in the 38th minute. Pumped up by Ainsworth’s half-time rally, the visitors grabbed an equaliser in the 53rd minute when Bean converted from close range after Paris Cowan-Hall caused havoc in the Exeter box. At the other end, Brown got down quickly to scramble Pierce Sweeney’s header to safety after a free-kick from Jordan MooreTaylor picked out the right-back. The rest of the match saw two sides slugging it out in search of two extra points but chances were at a premium. Christy Pym easily gathered Nathan Tyson’s weak effort, while at the other end Brown collected Ryan Harley’s effort from the edge of the box.
Despite seeing his Exeter side’s six-game winning run at home end, Grecians boss Paul Tisdale was happy with a point.
“It was a really good performance from both sides,” he said.
“I am pleased with my players and a point is a point. We had the lead, both teams wanted to win it, there was action at both ends and we are happy with a point.
“We would rather have had the three, but we will take it.
“We were stronger in the first half and then they responded. I would’ve been surprised if they hadn’t and then we had a really good 15-minute spell and got ourselves going again. It was going to come down to a mistake, that sort of thing, and neither side made one.”