Late drama edges Latics to point of safety

GREAT STRIKE . . . Filipe Morais (right) has plenty to smile about after putting Athletic ahead with a stunning long-range effort.

Wycombe 2, Athletic 2

Thankfully, the danger of spending next term in the basement division appears to have been diverted.

Whether it was more by luck than judgement is open to debate.

From the off, manager Paul Dickov’s men were in as full control of the contest as they needed to be at Adams Park.

Wycombe, desperately needing a win to halve the six-point gap between the two clubs with some tough fixtures to come, were distinctly second-best and a goal behind when Filipe Morais unleashed a 25-yard rocket which flashed beyond Nikki Bull.

Passing the ball swiftly and exploiting the space created between the home side’s defence and midfield, Athletic were dominating on their own terms.

That is, before Gary Waddock’s men were given an unlikely leg-up.

It was a filthy mess of a goal from the visitors’ viewpoint.

Alex Cisak’s understudy got nowhere near the ball. And Beavon simply glided past him to roll home a sickening 34th-minute equaliser.

After building up a head of steam, the Chairboys got their reward when substitute Joel Grant slid past a challenge from Tarkowski to fire home a low shot which deflected into the goal.

It could have been far worse. Oumare Tounkara’s bump into Craig Eastmond resulted in a penalty — which Grant Basey put wide.

The visitors showed plenty of heart to claw the game back.

When Robbie Simpson was brought down by Marvin McCoy, he calmly put the penalty away.

Athletic aren’t guaranteed as safe yet. As a 66-1 relegation shot at the bookies, though, the smart money says they have already done enough.



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