The Opposition View - Cheltenham

Following yesterday's 2-1 win at Cheltenham Town, here are some views on the game from the Robins' manager Mark Yates and a few of their fans.


The Robins' boss recognised that poor finishing had cost his side the game.

"I thought we were excellent today but didn't take our chances," he said. "It didn't go for us and we perhaps went a bit soft for a ten minute period in the second half, and to be fair to them, they stepped it up."

"Wycombe are a solid team with experienced players in this league, but we knew that, and we're obviously disappointed because we were excellent in the first half - they couldn't handle us - but goals change games and the one before half-time certainly rocked us."

"We perhaps let Ainsworth have a bit too much freedom in the second half and their two goals were good but disappointing on our behalf. We were the better team for periods today but they did a professional job on us by scoring a couple of breakaway goals. We missed a lot of chances and it's disappointing."


The Cheltenham fans thought Wycombe were a physical side and the referee was poor, but most blamed their own wayward finishing for the defeat.

The following extracts are taken from Football Forums and Robins Nest.


jaggy wrote:
'We are a nice team but we don't have any bite. Yates was at them to go in hard but we were out-muscled and out-psyched.'


Cleeverobin wrote:
'We lost because we didn't take our chances...we had at least 5 great chances to score real sitters. They are a good side with experienced players like Ainsworth, who is so much more than a L2 player even at 37. They also had to score two cracking goals to win it. Out-muscled? - at one point there were two Wycombe players lying on the ground and their colleagues moaning at the ref - I don't think so!!'


johnno wrote:
'Wycombe did a thorough job, deserved at least a point and scraped the win - they were more physical, first to each ball, and were tougher - not pretty, but did the job.'


Shade wrote:
'If the ref had been half decent and given any single one of the 15+ pulls, shoves and blocks on Jeff and Wes we would have dominated from start to finish. It was almost as if when Andrew scored that beautiful free kick he thought to himself - I better not give them any more in the Wycombe half, he's pretty good.'


cheltsaxon wrote:
'Worst ref I've seen in a long time - shocking! What dirty cheats Wycombe are!'


RegencyCheltenhamSpa wrote:
'We battled hard and competed with a good team who do not often lose away. We were not outplayed and at times carved them open. It was just our poor finishing, and with more accuracy and luck we could have had 3 or 4 at least.'


RichP wrote:
'I don't go to many games these days and the ones I'd been to prior to today were dismal. However, I was much more heartened by today's performance against a clearly good team. The reality is though - you have to put away those sort of chances and we had a hatful of missed opportunities. Ainsworth was the difference between the two sides today, he was awesome, without him who knows?'


spectator wrote:
'Ainsworth was clearly the difference and made Wycombe tick. He always had an extra yard of space, I'm not sure why we didn't mark him more closely or at least try to stop the supply to him sooner in the 2nd half. I also can't believe a 37 year old midfield schemer beat Danny Andrew for pace in the 1st half too. Oh to have some experience like that around the place.'


Shoe-Box wrote:
'We at least deserved a draw over the 90 mins, but Wycombe looked a good side and took their chances when we couldn't - how Jeffers missed that header in the last couple of minutes I will never know. They are probably the best side I've seen at Whaddon Road this season - well organised, good passing and they seem to have experienced players around the pitch - they will be up there when the 46th game has finished.'


Next Game: Wycombe v Gillingham - Monday 3rd Jan - 3.00pm

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