Wycombe boost automatic promotion hopes with victory at Crawley

Posted Thursday, March 22, 2018 by PA

Wycombe climbed into the Sky Bet League Two automatic promotion places with a 3-2 win over Crawley.

Striker Adebayo Akinfenwa scored his 18th goal of the season, equalling his best-ever tally, as the Chairboys clinched their sixth win in the last seven away games.

Matt Bloomfield should have hit the target for Wycombe early on when he wastefully shot over after racing through following a slip by Joe McNerney.

Wanderers broke the deadlock on 26 minutes when Luke O`Nien played a corner from Joe Jacobson back across goal and Nathan Tyson bundled the ball in from close range.

Crawley levelled on 35 minutes when Karlan Ahearne-Grant rifled his seventh goal in eight games from 15 yards following a knock down by skipper Jimmy Smith.

But Wycombe regained the advantage five minutes before the interval through Akinfenwa, who headed in from six yards following a cross by Tyson.

Wanderers made it 3-1 after 62 minutes when, following a free-kick from Jacobson, Akinfenwa crossed for Sido Jombati to fire his first league goal of the season from close range.

Tyson later drove a left-footed shot just wide from Akinfenwa`s pass before O`Nien had a goal-bound shot tipped over by keeper Glenn Morris.

Panutche Camara reduced the deficit for Crawley seven minutes from time by tucking in a cross from substitute Jordan Roberts.

But Crawley finished with 10 men after defender Mark Connolly was dismissed in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.