Fleetwood Town 3 Wycombe 3: Morris completes fine fightback

After leading early on at Highbury, Town slipped to 3-1 in arrears early in the second half but two goals inside five minutes from Joe Garner and Morris, in his first game since August, secured them a hard-earned point.

Simon Grayson was able to recall Tom Clarke to his back line, the skipper starting between Conor McLaughlin and James Hill, while the only other change from the previous weekend’s defeat at Ipswich was Anthony Pilkington coming into the attack alongside leading scorer Callum Morton.

While the Cod Army had designs on climbing out of the bottom four, their visitors were hoping to improve on their second spot.

Wycombe came to Highbury behind Plymouth in the table on goal difference but with a game in hand. Gareth Ainsworth’s in-form men had also collected 16 points from the previous six league games.

But it was Fleetwood who made the perfect start to the game, taking the lead inside five minutes. And it was something of a collectors’ item – a goal from Danny Andrew that not only came in open play but also off his right foot.

Morton did most of the running on a break down the right wing. Once he’d cut inside he found his route to goal blocked and fed the advancing Andrew.

The dead-ball specialist took one touch to turn inside his man and a second to blast the ball past David Stockdale for his fifth goal of the season.

An Andrew corner almost led to Town doubling the lead on nine minutes but Callum Johnson couldn’t direct his header on target.

And, having escaped with a warning when Ade Akinfenwa nodded a chance meekly at Alex Cairns, and another when Sam Vokes had a sight of goal once his strike partner had skewed a shot horribly, they weren’t so lucky when Brandon Hanlon found himself up against Clarke.

Hanlon had his back to goal when he collected Akinfenwa’s nod but a smart turn took him clear of his marker and his finish was emphatic. The equaliser seemed to suck the life out of the hosts’ play as Wycombe took a firm grip on the game.

And just before the half-hour mark Akinfenwa got among the goals himself. As Daryl Horgan’s cross came in from the right a test of strength took place inside the six-yard box.

It was one James Hill was never likely to win and, once he had been brushed aside, Akinfenwa smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Things could have got worse for Town when Ryan Tafazolli’s deflected shot looped up awkwardly but Alex Cairns backtracked and managed to push the ball safely over the bar.

Fleetwood had chances to get back on level terms just before the break but, from the best of them, Stockdale just got enough on an Andrew free-kick to keep it out, with Johnson unable to turn in the rebound from a tight angle.

And a pulsating half ended with Vokes sending a curling effort narrowly wide.

The second half started as well for Wycombe as the first had for Fleetwood, with Vokes neatly turning in a pass from Hanlon for 3-1.

But Town refused to buckle and staged a quite brilliant fightback. The introduction of Joe Garner with half an hour still to play paid immediate dividends for Grayson, as he was first to a Dan Batty corner and flicked it in to offer hope for Fleetwood.

Just four minutes later, they were level. Batty again provided the pass and it was another substitute, Morris, who provided a thumping finish to make it 3-3 and set up a thrilling final 25 minutes.

But chances proved few and far between in the closing stages. Andrew went the closest with a free-kick that crashed against the post – but with no further goals, the two sides had to settle for a point apiece.

Fleetwood: Cairns, McLaughlin (Lane 59), Clarke, Hill, Johnson, Batty, Biggins (Morris 59), Matete, Andrew, Pilkington (Garner 58), Morton

Wycombe: Stockdale, Grimmer, Stewart, Tafozolli, Jacobson, Horgan (Mehmeti 79), Thompson (Wheeler 65), Scowen, Vokes, Akinfenwa (Obita 56), Hanlan

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