Tyson Lands Knockout Blow in Wycombe Victory

Luton Town 2 - 3 Wycombe Wanderers
E. Lee 43', 78'                                               Cowan-Hall 2', Tyson 39', 70'

Sky Bet League Two | Tuesday 30th January 2018

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By scoring two goals and assisting another, veteran striker Nathan Tyson rolled back the years on Tuesday evening to secure a vital three points for Wycombe in a thrilling encounter at Kenilworth Road. The victory for the Buckinghamshire club signified a tightening of the gap between league leaders Luton and the chasing pack. 

The personal duel between visiting goalkeeper Scott Brown and home forward Elliot Lee was the enthralling sub-plot in a contest which vacillated from end-to-end. While the former produced multiple match-winning saves, the latter scored a brace in a game where his team gave chase from the second minute onwards.

Wycombe entered the game having not played a fixture in ten days. Nevertheless, manager Gareth Ainsworth made two changes from the last-gasp victory at Crewe. Captain Adam El-Abd returned in place of Nathan McGinley and Matt Bloomfield made way for Tyson. In contrast, Luton had fought valiantly with ten men to preserve a one goal lead over Grimsby three days prior to the Chairboys showdown. Manager Nathan Jones reverted to the 4-4-2 diamond formation, replacing Harry Cornick with Elliot Lee, and reinstating Olly Lee at the expense of Jordan Cook who saw red at Blundell Park.

Luton's lethargy was manifest from the first whistle. After Olly Lee lost the ball in midfield, an accurate chip over the top by Dominic Gape had Johnny Mullins - who Jones later revealed had carried an injury into the game - grimacing, sprinting towards his own goal. It was a one-horse race. Tyson had only the keeper to beat. After Stech saved with his legs, Tyson recovered the ball and composedly laid into the path of Paris Cowan-Hall, who fired with conviction into the bottom left corner. Refusing to lash at the second chance, Tyson made the right choice, as the most astute players do.

Moments after the restart, the Chairboys' tenacity in midfield paid dividends once more. In one swing of a right boot Luke O'Nein intercepted Dan Potts' clearance and distributed to Tamari Moore on the right flank. The Arsenal loanee swung a cross onto the head of Tyson who from six yards out should have doubled the lead. Instead, the marksman nodded straight into the chest of a startled Stech.

Quarter of an hour had elapsed before Luton responded. Luke Berry passed into Elliot Lee on the apex of the penalty area. With opposing centre-half Dan Scarr breathing down his neck, Lee circumvented the Birmingham loanee with one deft touch. Opening up his body and shooting across goal, Lee was denied by the outstretched left hand of an agile Brown. With the goal at his mercy James Collins fired straight onto the head of Joe Jacobsen, the full-back had hastily retreated to the goal-line in his team's moment of need.

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The hosts were in the ascendancy. Berry retrieved Stacey's cross from the right and rolled enticingly towards Collins on the edge of the box. The former Shrewsbury striker sent a low left-footed effort towards goal which deflected off the imposing Scarr. Brown, seemingly an impenetrable mirage in kaleidoscopic kit, dived to his left and miraculously tipped the ball behind. Those in the Oak Road End looked on in awe.

After Elliot Lee took an air shot following a set-piece when any touch would do, the visitors had a corner of their own. With the burly Adebayo Akinfenwa occupying multiple defenders at the back-post, Scarr was free to head Jacobsen's delivery back across goal. Collins, who should have known better, completely misjudged his headed clearance. There was Tyson, alone, ready to tidily chest and slot under the feet of Stech and beyond the last-ditch lunge of Glen Rea. The jubilant cheers which emanated from the away end seemed almost disbelieving.

Since the turn of the year, fallible defending has become the trademark of a Luton team who have encountered turbulence during their promotion bid. The Hatters defence has looked highly susceptible to a mistake; conceding unflattering goals against Lincoln, Newcastle, Chesterfield, and the Chairboys.

However, Luton's proficiency in attack is undeniable and they offered immediate riposte. Olly Lee crossed low from the right and Collins stabbed towards goal. Yet again, Brown made an exceptional save, this time with his feet. As Elliot Lee retrieved the ball on the right side of the area. A group of visiting defenders swarmed round Lee who manoeuvred, deliberated, then unleashed a shot which rolled into the bottom left corner. Brown got a hand to the shot but it wasn't enough.

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Luton continued to have chances in the second half but the visitors controlled the tempo of the game. Wycombe's game management methods will never be endearing but their counter attacks were highly effective, their defence was impermeable, and their midfield had an intensity which the hosts often struggled to contend with. These components in a cohesive team have been conducive to three successive victories.

Minutes after Brown made another superb save, diving to his right to claw Alan Sheehan's free-kick out of the top corner, the visitors cleared Stacey's under-hit cross towards Tyson. Although Glen Rea, who had moved to centre-half after Mullins' substitution, repelled the former Nottingham Forest striker's  initial attempts to dribble through, substitute Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu neglected the loose ball. Gape moved first to serve up Tyson with a golden opportunity. With an abundance of time and space, the frontman passed under the legs of Stech and into the net.

Once more, Luton had left themselves recklessly exposed while trying to recover from a goal deficit. This goal was a carbon copy of Masfield's second in the game at Field Mill earlier this season. Once Luton go behind they often collapse, evidenced by the heavy defeats against Swindon, Coventry, and Port Vale. They would do well to adopt a slighty more conservative approach when trailing by one goal.

The hosts rallied on this occasion though, Harry Cornick's cross from the right flew across goal untouched. Berry kept the ball in play on the opposite flank and passed to Elliot Lee. Slaloming through the crowd of Wycombe bodies, his right foot volley was blocked by the legs of Brown. The irrepressible Lee picked himself up off the turf to rifle the rebound into the top corner with his left foot.

Wycombe were almost beneficiaries of Luton throwing even more bodies forward. Gape's long-range effort was directed towards goal by Scott Kashket. Stech scurried to his left and clawed the ball to safety. 

Fittingly, The game's climactic moment emerged shortly before the final whistle. The home keeper launched a long ball forwards. Men leapt and tumbled trying to win the aerial battle. Elliot Lee tapped into Cornick, bringing calm to the chaos. The ground seemed to stand silent. One-on-one Cornick shot straight into the midriff of Brown. The former Bournemouth striker's finishing was later scrutinised by his manager, as it has been all season.

Having endured nine minutes of injury time, the Buckinghamshire men revelled in hard-fought victory with those packed into one half of the Oak Road End. Nathan Jones trudged down the tunnel lamenting his injury list, contemplating what might have been. The League Two promotion race hangs in the balance.

Teams (Player Ratings in Bold)
Luton Town
Stech 6.5, Stacey 6.5, Mullins 5.5, (Mpanzu 57' - 5), Sheehan 7, Potts 7, Rea 6.5, O. Lee 6.5, (D'Ath 78' - 5.5), Berry 6.5, Shinnie 6.5, (Cornick 69' - 6), Collins 6, E. Lee 8.5
Wycombe Wanderers
Brown 9, Moore 7, (Thompson 83' - 5.5), Scarr 6.5, El-Abd 7, Jacobsen 7, O'Nein 7, Bean 6.5, Gape 7, Cowan-Hall 7, (Kashket 83' - 6), Tyson 8.5, (Mackail-Smith 75' - 6), Akinfenwa 6.5

Referee: Tim Robinson
Attendance: 8,564 (791 Wycombe fans)