Blues escape Plainmoor with a point

Torquay United 0 Wycombe Wanderers 0

The Blues have Nikki Bull and the woodwork to thank for escaping from Plainmoor with a point.

Injuries to Stuart Beavon and Jon-Paul Pittman limited manager Gary Waddock's options in attack and a 4-5-1 formation with Scott Rendell as the lone striker yielded few chances.

Roared on by their biggest crowd of the season, Torquay started strongly and when Chris Zebroski found space in the box, Bull had to be alert to deny him with his feet at the near post.

The Gulls kept coming, and a spectacular volley from Jake Robinson went wide before Zebroski set-up Gavin Tomlin who fired a rasping shot over the Wycombe bar.

Matt Bloomfield and Scott Donnelly had long-range efforts deflected wide, but the Blues had to wait until the 32nd minute for their one and only shot on target when Bloomfield did well to create a chance for himself only to see his tame attempt comfortably saved by Torquay keeper Scott Bevan.

Wycombe had their best spell of the match during the next fifteen minutes, but with Stuart Lewis firing one wide and Kevin Betsy hitting the side netting, Bevan wasn't troubled again.

The Gulls regrouped at half-time and almost caught Wycombe cold when Guy Branston rose to meet a corner and powered a header against the post, while Craig Stanley lashed a great chance over the bar only moments later.

Leon Johnson and Bull then combined to thwart the lively Zebroski and from the resulting corner, Bull made a superb reaction save to keep out another fierce header from Branston.

Robinson hit the side-netting, Billy Kee missed a sitter and Stanley forced another save from Bull as the Gulls continued to dominate the second-half.

With time running out, the woodwork came to Wycombe's rescue again when Ronan Murray's glancing header struck the underside of the crossbar with Bull beaten.

The nearest the 497 travelling fans got to some excitement was when Scott Rendell almost got his head to a Kevin Betsy cross.

It felt like Wycombe's primary objective was not to lose and they seemed content to play for a draw and hope they got lucky at the other end. Sharing the points at Plainmoor is a good result, but that's four draws in a row for the Blues, and whether that will be good enough at the end of the season remains to be seen.


Line-up & ratings
Bull (7), Foster (4), Winfield (5), Johnson (6), Sandell (5), Betsy (5), Bloomfield (6) (Montrose 87 (n/a)), Lewis (6), Donnelly (6), Ainsworth (5) (Strevens 76 (4)), Rendell (5).

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