Ice-cool Abbott saves the day

ON THE SPOT: Pawel Abbott strokes home a last-gasp penalty to earn Athletic a vital point against fellow strugglers Wycombe Wanderers.

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Athletic 2, Wycombe 2

IN the Kingdom of Boundary Park, the centre-half with three goals is King.

Well, almost. When Reuben Hazell nodded home Kieran Lee’s flicked-on free-kick half an hour into a nip-and-tuck tussle, he become Athletic’s second-top scorer for the season.

Not bad for a man whose business is more usually conducted in the opposite penalty area, it looked to have teed up successive Coca-Cola League One victories inside five days.

But a game that seemed to be progressing to plan for the home side was flipped on its head either side of half-time.

Firstly, an impressively spirited Wycombe side earned a penalty after Chris Taylor was adjudged to have halted John Mousinho’s shot with an outstretched hand.

Dave Harrold — scorer of a late equaliser in the reverse fixture at Adams Park which was freakily similar to this one — sent Dean Brill the wrong way.

Four minutes into the second half, Athletic’s goalkeeper was beaten once again. And replays of the goal scored by Kevin Betsy will leave him with nightmares.

The player signed by former Athletic boss Brian Talbot six years ago was allowed to run from near the halfway line before firing a low, bobbling shot from 25 yards out towards the right corner of Brill’s goal.

Somehow, it slipped under his arms and crept in to leave the ex-Luton Town stopper staring despondently at the turf. A terrible mistake, it left Athletic in something of a hole against the division’s second-bottom club.

Thankfully from manager Dave Penney’s point of view, the only man in front of Hazell in the club’s scoring charts had one last chance to claim a point.

Pawel Abbott accepted the gift from the penalty spot in the last minute after his own left-footed effort bounced down off the hand of Wanderers skipper Adam Hinshelwood.

Referee Eddie Ilderton couldn’t really help but point to the spot, having awarded the first for Wycombe, and Abbott blasted into the roof of the net to pick up a valuable draw with his 10th goal of the campaign.

The goal served to drown out calls from a section of the home fans for Penney’s head.

And there was further cause for optimism amid the disappointment of dropping two points.

It came in the performances of young duo Tom Eaves and Kirk Millar, both of whom caused problems for Wycombe after emerging from the bench as the home team searched for a goal.

With the anonymous Keigan Parker having already left the field before the hour, Eaves, making his third first-team appearance at the age of 18, came on for Deane Smalley and his tall, rangy presence and hold-up play caused Wycombe problems.

Millar was also impressive. The Northern Irish winger, only 17 and a first-year scholar, proved a tricky customer on the right and provided glimpses of the sort of wide play the team has been sorely lacking this season.

Athletic began the game positively. Taylor failed to put away the first real chance when he headed straight at on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Tom Heaton.

Deane Smalley then fizzed a ball across the six-yard box that was too strong for anyone to get on the end of, before Taylor produced a strong run and shot that ended up three yards wide.

Hazell’s goal was something of a gift. There appeared no danger when Kieran Lee floated in a long free-kick from the right wing but an off-balance Harrold flicked the ball on to the centre-back’s head six yards out.

Wycombe responded well to the setback and after Danny Whitaker had knocked away Harrold’s header from just in front of the right-hand post, the first penalty of the game was awarded and dispatched by the tall striker.

Wanderers began the second half easily the sharper of the sides and Betsy’s goal stunned the home crowd.

Harrold side-footed straight at Brill as the visitors continued to press and up the other end, Smalley’s header from a Dale Stephens corner landed on the roof of the net.

On came Dean Furman in place of Parker and Whitaker went to wide right, Smalley moving to a central striking role.

Taylor nearly profited from Abbott’s flick but couldn’t sort out his feet in the area to get a shot away when an opening presented itself.

Abbott himself could only poke directly into Heaton’s hands and with 20 minutes left the game was slipping away as Wycombe held on grimly.

On came Eaves and Millar and the pressure was constant without resulting in a clear opening for Athletic.

Then came the last-minute penalty rescuing a point for Penney’s side.

Wycombe almost grabbed a third when substitute Alex Revell couldn’t keep his close-range shot down in the second minute of added time.

But given that they were handed a similar stroke of late fortune in the game before Christmas at Adams Park — also a 2-2 draw featuring two spot-kicks — Wanderers couldn’t justifiably bemoan their luck too much.




Penney: Second goal knocked our confidence



DAVE PENNEY admitted the stuffing was knocked out of his team as a result of Wycombe’s quick-fire double strike either side of half-time.



Athletic took the lead through Reuben Hazell’s header on the half-hour and looked confident at a goal up.

But a penalty awarded for handball against Chris Taylor four minutes before the break allowed the struggling visitors to get back on level terms through Matt Harrold.

And ex-Athletic man Kevin Betsy fired a second thanks to poor goalkeeping from Dean Brill before Pawel Abbott’s last-minute leveller, again from a penalty given for the use of a hand in the area.

“In the first half we did okay,” said Penney, whose team remain four points clear of the League One drop zone.

“We looked a little bit sluggish but we got ourselves a goal and probably could have had another.

“Obviously, the second goal we conceded was a poor one from our point of view.

“So the goal before half-time and the quick one after knocked us.

“It knocked our confidence as well, but the players stuck at it.

“It was a home game for us and we set off on the front foot. We got in front and from there we should take the game on and win.

“It would have given us a bit of breathing space with the teams below us.

“It was a major disappointment that we didn’t win.”

Penney felt that referee Eddie Ilderton had no option but to award Athletic’s late spot-kick for handball against Wycombe captain Adam Hinshelwood, having already pointed to the spot for a similar offence in the first half.

However, he felt there was a foul on Reuben Hazell in the build-up to the visitors’ first goal.

“They both clearly hit the hand, haven’t they?” the Athletic boss added.

“I don’t think it was ball to hand.

“Initially, Reubs has gone for the header and nearly got his head kicked off trying to clear it.

“It then hit Tayls on the hand, penalty, and you could see then the way it was going. Hopefully it would hit someone’s hand in their box and we would get a penalty.

“When it is that late, it was similar to Dean Brill saving a penalty (at Exeter) to get us a point and we got a penalty here so that we got a point.

“When you are losing 2-1 down at the death you are always grateful for something like that.”

Tom Eaves imposed himself on the game after coming on for the final 23 minutes and Penney was also delighted with the contribution of Northern Irish winger Kirk Millar, who was lively in the last quarter-hour.

“I thought they were different class,” Penney said of the youth-team duo.

“Their ability on the ball and wanting the ball was a big thing.

“They wanted it to make an impact. They are only youngsters but they were excellent coming on.”




Latics’ next game: Tomorrow, Stockport (A), Coca-Cola League One