[ad_1]
Wayne Rooney’s first game as interim Derby manager ended in frustration when a late goal earned Wycombe a 1-1 draw at Pride Park.
Rooney saw his team score for the first time in nearly eight hours, but they couldn’t add a second and finished last in the Championship.
Duane Holmes ended the drought with a smart shot, but Wycombe improved after the break and tied through Matt Bloomfield’s close-range effort.
Rooney was left out of the team when he made seven changes from the team that lost 3-0 at Middlesbrough on Wednesday night.
Wayne Rooney saw his side held back in his first game on the Pride Park bench
Derby had gone 437 minutes without scoring but, after a formless start, they had a good chance in the 14th minute when Louie Sibley headed an Andre Wisdom cross from eight yards.
Wycombe was forced to change when Curtis Thompson couldn’t continue and they had goalie Ryan Allsop to thank for denying the Derby twice in the space of 60 seconds.
He spun behind a Holmes drive in the 23rd minute and, as the corner lit up, Allsop reacted brilliantly to clear George Evans’ header.
Wycombe had his first attack in the 28th minute that ended with Garath McCleary shooting into the side net, but Derby had the ball in the net in the 34th minute only for an offside flag that was denied to Colin Kazim-Richards.
But the forward was involved when Derby scored two minutes later, driving a low cross that Holmes passed behind Allsop.
0:35
Wayne Rooney’s first goal while in charge of the Derby as interim boss came after Duane Holmes finished off a good play with a deft move to open the scoring against Wycombe.
It was a goal that Derby deserved for a performance in the first half that had been a huge improvement, especially in the last third.
Wycombe brought in Adebayo Akinfenwa for the second half and the forward had his team’s first shot on target with a looped header to David Marshall.
The visitors were asking more questions of the Derby, but the home side broke dangerously in the 61st minute with Holmes forcing Allsop into a dive.
Derby had a great opportunity to ease their nerves six minutes later when Matt Clarke ran into a Tom Lawrence corner, but headed wide.
Clarke had another chance in the 76th minute when he came back to power on a header that Allsop saved and Craig Forsyth’s follow-up was cleared off the line.
That was a great moment because Wycombe leveled in the 81st minute when Marshall could only stop a Fred Onyedinma header at the back post and Bloomfield slid in to score.
It could have been even worse for Derby when McCleary’s shot in injury time came off the bottom of the bar and he just couldn’t cross the line.
What the managers said …
Acting Chief of Derby Wayne Rooney: “We were a little more direct than we have been in recent weeks. Today we had to change something in the way we have been playing. I felt that the experience of coming to the team was vital, I wanted experienced players on the field to meet the league and try to move the ball faster than in recent games.
“I think it was necessary today. I can sit here and say we want to play football, make 600, 700 passes per game, but right now the players are not in that frame of mind and they don’t have enough confidence to do that. “. so the important thing for me was to try to simplify the game for the players and move the ball forward.
“We created chances and went into the break 1-0 up and I emphasized to the players how important the second goal is and we paid the price for not getting that second goal. But I have to remain positive, it is a point, we have stopped the game. losing streak and it’s a point where we have to build. “
Wycombe’s Gareth ainsworth: “Derby definitely had the first half, but the second half, I thought we were the best team and for me, it’s a great point against a club that I don’t think is in the bottom three at the end of the season.
“We celebrated a point in League One in Sunderland two years ago like it was the best this club had ever done, to get to a place like Derby County and get a point that I think is phenomenal for Wycombe Wanderers.”
[ad_2]