Gareth Ainsworth dedicates Wycombe’s win over Oxford to Bill Turnbull

Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2023 by PA

Gareth Ainsworth dedicated Wycombe’s comfortable 2-0 home victory over Oxford to former BBC presenter Bill Turnbull.

Both goals came in a dominant first half, with Sam Vokes tapping in his first since October before teeing up Anis Mehmeti 10 minutes before half-time.

The Chairboys named their commentary gantry after Turnbull last September following his death, and Wednesday would have seen the Wycombe fan turn 67.

And Ainsworth made it clear the radio and television personality was still very much in the thoughts of everyone at the club.

Ainsworth said: “Tomorrow would have been Bill Turnbull’s birthday. He’s our number one fan and I’m sure he’s looking down on us. That win is for him.”

The 49-year-old lauded his two goalscorers, as well as the selflessness of centre-half Joe Jacobson who started on the bench as Ainsworth looked to tweak their formation.

“Anis (Mehmeti) is some player. We all know how good he is and that strike proved it once again,” said Ainsworth.

“But I’m delighted for (Sam) Vokesy too because it’s been a long time coming for him.

“I changed my formation suspecting that Karl (Robinson) would go for a back four and we got that right.

“JJ (Joe Jacobson) was brilliant. He told me it’s best for the team even though that meant him missing out and that’s what our dressing room is all about.”

With temperatures dropping to minus four degrees at Adams Park, Ainsworth showed gratitude to the 5,935 fans who braved the weather to support the two sides.

Ainsworth said: “Thank you to everyone who came along tonight. I know it was cold and icy but they got behind their teams in a well-played game.”

In the opposite dugout, Karl Robinson was pleased with his team’s all-round play, but felt let down by United’s inability to offer a goalscoring threat.

“The final third was just huff and puff,” said Robinson. “We need more consistency in that part of the pitch. We need to score more goals.

“We lacked quality in the final third. I felt in our final third entries we didn’t produce anything.

“There was never a moment when you thought, ‘go on!’. Their lad produces a moment of magic and we didn’t have that.

“In the second half there was only one team in the game. I thought we dominated all areas of the football pitch.

“The defence were superb in the second half and the midfielders dominated the game.

“I thought the players gave everything. No player shirked anything. I don’t think many of my players played poorly and I stand by that. The 2-0 scoreline shows the polar opposite, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.”