Boston United 0 Wycombe Wanderers 1

Last updated : 28 October 2006 By Footymad Previewer
Referee Anthony Taylor took centre stage as Wycombe grabbed three vital points in their promotion quest with a 1-0 win at Boston.

The match official dismissed home debutant Drewe Broughton and visiting midfielder Tommy Doherty in separate second-half incidents just moments after sending Boston boss Steve Evans from the dugout for a touchline altercation.

It was a drama which a generally tame encounter didn't really merit - the game being decided four minutes into a remarkable seven minutes of stoppage time by Matt Bloomfield's curling free kick.

There was little to choose between the sides in the opening exchanges with Boston producing a couple of unrewarded attacking raids down the left and Wycombe answering with a fourth minute curling 20-yard free kick by Tommy Mooney that flashed inches wide.

The visitors went even closer on 14 minutes when, following good build-up work down the right, the ball dropped for Bloomfield to fire goalwards from 12 yards. But home keeper Andy Marriott tipped over in spectacular fashion.

Boston answered in the 25th minute with a surging run down the right by Dany N'Guessan. But his low centre towards Broughton was hacked over his own bar by Sam Stockley.

Boston pressed again in the 35th minute when right-back Simon Rusk went on an attacking diagonal run, but his left-foot shot from the edge of the "D" fizzed over the angle of bar and post.

Boston exerted more pressure just before the break with N'Guessan again a major threat. But his cross shot was held by Ricardo Jorge Cecília Batista.

There was little in the way of creative spark at the start of the second half until the 55th minute when home boss Evans had a touchline altercation with Wycombe's Doherty and was sent from the dugout by the referee.

And Boston's problems increased moments later when Rusk was stretchered off with the recurrence of the knee injury which had kept him out of action for many weeks.

The game erupted into drama again around the hour mark when first Doherty was sent off for Wycombe for an alleged stamping and then two minutes later Boston's Broughton was also dismissed for a second yellow card offence after a challenge on Mike Williamson.

Wycombe went close on 70 minutes when Mooney got on the end of a Bloomfield corner but his near post snap shot was beaten away by Marriott.

Four minutes into seven minutes of stoppage time Wycombe broke the deadlock when Bloomfield netted direct from a curling free kick close to the left touchline, the ball curling over a stranded Marriott.