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On 12 minutes Matt Bloomfield sent a deep ball into the Town back-post which Mooney did well to hook back over his head to the penalty spot area. Ian Stonebridge had run in well on the loose ball and he was unlucky to see his goalbound shot well blocked by Cheltenham defender Shane Duff. Two minutes later Wanderers went close again when Clint Easton sent a quick free-kick down the left-hand channel for Mooney to run onto. The ex-Swindon front-man stuck a low cross in which deflected off both Town's Brian Wilson and Wycombe's Will Antwi before flying over the Robins' crossbar for a goal-kick.
The match was pretty much all Wycombe early on but they were unable to turn their possession into goals and slowly but surely the visitors were creeping back into the game. After 29 minutes Cheltenham's Steve Guinan received a yellow card after catching veteran Wanderers midfielder Rob Lee in the eye with his elbow in an aerial challenge. Lee left the field for treatment with blood pouring down his face and it was eight minutes until Joe Burnell came on in his place, Lee having six stitches below the eye and two above it.
With 41 minutes gone some good link-up play between Guinan and Kayode Odejayi saw Guinan have his 15-yard effort blocked straight back out to Odejayi. The big striker fired in a dangerous shot on goal from the middle of the Wycombe 'D' but it was straight at Steve Williams in the Wanderers goal, although it did take Williams two attempts to keep hold of the ball. Sixty seconds on and this time it was Guinan with a clear sight on goal, although his curling 20-yard effort was weak and easy for Williams to collect.
Two minutes before the interval and Cheltenham took a somewhat undeserved lead through their skipper John Finnigan. Wilson swung a corner in to the back-post which was headed back across goal by Duff straight to Finnigan 15 yards out from the Wycombe net in the right-hand channel. Finnigan taking a quick touch before firing in an excellent low drive with his right foot across goal and into the far bottom corner of Williams' net. Wanderers had one quick chance to grab a leveller before the break but Antwi could only head wide of the Town far-post from just eight yards out after Easton had put in a dangerous corner.
The first real action of the second-half saw Jermaine Easter come on in place of Ian Stonebridge after 54 minutes. Two minutes later Guinan headed a good chance wide at the back-post following a Grant McCann free-kick in, and in the 63rd minute Wanderers made their third and final change of the game when they brought on Stefan Oakes for Bloomfield. Sixty seconds later Duff was unable to take a great opportunity when McCann curled a lovely left-footed free-kick to the middle of the Wycombe goal, but Duff was just unable to get a diving header on it from only six yards out.
With 67 minutes gone Easton sent a ball in on the bounce from the left which came to Easter in the left-hand channel just outside the Cheltenham box. Easter spun on the ball and in one movement hooked a fantastic right-footed half-volley goalwards, only for the effort to drift millimetres wide of Town keeper Shane Higgs' far-post at the last minute. Two minutes later, as Wycombe were starting to boss the game, Oakes sent a free-kick over the Robins wall from 22 yards out on the right-angle of the Town box, the effort disappearing wide of the Cheltenham goal.
In the 75th minute the visitors made the scoreline a rather flattering 2-0 after a lovely passing move in midfield involving Finnigan, Wilson and McCann. The ball eventually ending up at the feet of Oyedaji who played a sweet slide-rule pass into Guinan down the right-hand channel. Guinan get a shot away sharply on his right foot from a tight angle, the Town striker being rather fortunate to see his effort deflect wickedly off Wycombe centre-half Roger Johnson and into the back of the Wanderers net. The nick off Johnson completely wrong-footing Williams in the Wycombe goal.
Two minutes later, with the home side now desperately searching for a way back into the tie, Senda sent a 22-yard free-kick over the Town wall which Higgs spilled away from his body. Fortunately for the visitors keeper though his centre-half Gavin Caines was on-hand to hack the ball away from danger. Shortly afterwards Kevin Betsy sent a dangerous cross in from the right which Mooney nodded back across the Cheltenham goalmouth from the back-post, only to see his header drop agonisingly beyond the onrushing Easter and out for a Town goal-kick.
With ten minutes to go in the game Robins boss John Ward made his first substitutions of the game when he changed his forward line, bringing on Steven Gillespie for Guinan and Damian Spencer for Odejayi. Three minutes on and Ward made another change as Mickey Bell replaced Wilson in his midfield. In the 89th minute Senda tried his luck with a free-kick again only to see his effort go straight into the Town wall and out for a corner. Wanderers earned three more quick corners in succession, making it a whopping sixteen on the night, as Cheltenham struggled to clear their lines, although Wycombe were unable to make any clear-cut chances from their flag-kicks in the latter stages.
Just as the home fans were drifting away from the Causeway Stadium though Wycombe gave themselves a huge lifeline in the tie as they pulled a goal back in the fourth and final of injury time. Russell Martin sent a deep free-kick in to the far-post which Antwi somehow managed to keep in play as he tapped the ball back from the left by-line into the path of Mooney just eight yards out in the centre of the Robins goalmouth. Mooney firing home powerfully into the net with a left-footed half-volley to make the final score 2-1 to Cheltenham, and set up an intruiging second leg at Whaddon Road on Thursday night.
Wycombe line-up :
Steve Williams, Clint Easton, Danny Senda, Roger Johnson, Will Antwi, Russell Martin, Rob Lee (Joe Burnell 37), Matt Bloomfield (Stefan Oakes 63), Ian Stonebridge (Jermaine Easter 54), Tommy Mooney, Kevin Betsy.
Unused substitutes :
Frank Talia, Michael Williamson.
Cheltenham line-up :
Shane Higgs, Brian Wilson (Mickey Bell 83), Jeremy Gill, Shane Duff, Gavin Caines, Craig Armstrong, John Finnigan, Grant McCann, Kayode Odejayi (Damian Spencer 80), Ashley Vincent, Steve Guinan (Steven Gillespie 80).
Unused substitutes :
Scott Brown, David Bird.
Referee - Andy Hall (Birmingham).
Attendance - 5,936.
Shots on target - Wycombe 3 Cheltenham 4.
Shots off target - Wycombe 4 Cheltenham 1.
Hit woodwork - Wycombe 0 Cheltenham 0.
Offsides - Wycombe 1 Cheltenham 0.
Corners - Wycombe 16 Cheltenham 3.
Free-kicks conceded - Wycombe 11 Cheltenham 15.
Goals - John Finnigan 43 (C), Steve Guinan 75 (C), Tommy Mooney 90 (W).
Yellow cards - Steve Guinan 29 (C).
Post-match quotes :
Wycombe assistant boss Steve Brown said:
"We are delighted with the final outcome, as it would have been a travesty to lose 2-0. We created some good chances from our set-pieces and they looked uncomfortable on each occasion.