Bonfire Night proved, alas, to be anything but County(‘s) Night, as the Hatters returned to League One action and were subjected to a five-goal thrashing under the Edgeley Park lights by second-placed Wycombe.
Their third successive Tuesday evening home match – which, like County’s most recent league contest with Reading a week earlier, had been re-arranged due to international call-ups at an earlier stage of the season – saw them concede thrice in under 10 first-half minutes, as the visiting ‘Chairboys’ established early control over affairs before proceeding to score twice more after the break and enjoy a first-ever victory at EP.
The mild evening weather of late October had continued into early November, as County took to the field against a backdrop of firework noise and smoky air in and around SK3, and showing one change from the starting line-up that faced Reading – with Callum Connolly replacing the injured Tyler Onyango.
The team included a couple of players – namely, Louie Barry and Ethan Pye – who had been completely rested from the 20-strong FA Cup squad against Forest Green three days previously. And there were also only two survivors among the starters for that weekend tie – Jack Diamond and Fraser Horsfall – to feature from the outset again in County’s second November match.
The in-form visitors, unbeaten in League One since August, and the leading divisional scorers, were presented with the evening’s first opportunity after eight minutes – in the form of a spot-kick, awarded following Horsfall’s trip on Dan Udoh. Wycombe’s leading scorer, Richard Kone, made the most of it, too, sending Corey Addai the wrong way from 12 yards.
Two minutes later, the Chairboys’ advantage was doubled, after Kone played in Fred Onyedinma, who shimmied towards the County box before drilling a low shot from the ‘D’ into the bottom-right corner.
Then, with only 18 minutes on the clock, Wycombe had a third – after Addai parried a delivery on the left by-line from Ipswich loanee Cameron Humphreys, and Kone seized upon the rebound to fire home at close range.
The impressive Humphreys shot into the left side-netting, before the Hatters, just following the first-half’s mid-point, earned their inaugural corner. Four more followed in rapid succession ahead of the half-hour, and another one shortly after it, albeit without any leading to attempts of note on goal that could offer hope of reducing the arrears.
At the other end, the visitors went horrifically close to scoring for a fourth time after Kone slotted past Addai – but with a shot that lacked power, and which Connolly was well placed to clear off the line.
HALF-TIME: County 0, Wycombe 3 (Kone, 9 (penalty) and 18; Onyedinma, 11).
County made a triple-substitution upon the resumption – introducing Tanto Olaofe, together with the recently-returned Ryan Rydel and Macauley Southam-Hales – although matters did not improve when, a couple of minutes into the new half, Pye received his fifth yellow card of the campaign to render himself suspended for the next match, at home to Bolton.
Meanwhile, for the visitors, Aaron Morley fired wide of the left post, and Kone was denied a hat-trick for a second time when Addai dived to smother the Ivorian striker’s shot. The County goalkeeper subsequently parried behind a well-struck effort from Udoh, as Wycombe continued to look the side most likely to trouble the scorers.
Ten minutes after the hour, they did precisely that – as a short corner on the left was worked to Humphreys, whose cross was headed in by Onyedinma for his second and the Chairboys’ fourth.
Addai executed a fine point-blank save to keep out Kone once more, but the visitors, whose margin of victory propelled them to the top of the table on goal difference, proceeded to ‘go nap’ all the same – with Morley notching his first Wycombe goal, courtesy of a strike from the edge of the box, 13 minutes from time.
FULL-TIME: County 0, Wycombe 5 (Kone, 9 (penalty) and 18; Onyedinma, 11 and 70; Morley, 77).
Team (4-2-3-1): Addai; Connolly (Southam-Hales, 46), Horsfall, Pye, Touray (Bailey, 66); Bate (Capt.), Fiorini (Olaofe, 46); Diamond (Rydel, 46), Collar, Barry (Norwood, 77); Wootton.
Unused Subs: Hinchliffe, Fevrier.
Booked: Horsfall, Diamond, Pye.
Man of the Match: Collar.
Attendance: 8,305 (274 away).
Reporter: Gareth Evans.
Photographer: Mike Petch.
