Dunn the hero in shoot out

Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 Northampton Town (Cobblers win 3-0 on penalties)
Johnstone's Paint Trophy, First Round
1st September 2009


Chris Dunn, at fault for a couple of the goals in the weekend defeat to Burton Albion, spectacularly his back on Tuesday night with a double penalty save that gave the Cobblers a route through to Round Two of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. In terms of match importance and setting this game slipped through the radar of the fixture list, particularly with the early 7pm kick off. But the Cobblers, and particularly Dunn, had a point to prove and came through following an entertaining ninety minutes that ended all square.

Stuart Gray should be credited for keeping faith in Dunn and putting him back into the starting line-up when he could so easily have given young Paul Walker a go. It would be an act of trust that would eventually pay off.

Other changes saw Liverpool loan man Robbie Thelfall come in at left back and Abdul Osman return to midfield with Steve Guinan dropped to the bench and Billy McKay on international duty with Northern Ireland Under 21s. Guinan would be another to make a noticeable return later in the game.

It was Wycombe who started the brighter though and Jean-Paul Pittman had the best chance of the opening exchanges, running onto a through ball to have a clear shot on goal but Dunn was equal to it and managed to save well. It took the Cobblers a while to get going but when they did it was with real reward at the end of it. Ryan Gilligan was the man in the middle of everything with a free kick just over before he put his side into the lead from the spot. Ben Marshall was fouled and Gilligan made it two in two games as he coolly sent the keeper the wrong way to give Gray’s men a half-time lead.

It was a second penalty that would draw Wycombe level as a handball was awarded against Dean Beckwith and Pittman made no mistakes from the spot. The game began to open up a bit after that and both sides could have won it. Cobblers substitutions late in the game saw Guinan on for Mulligan and Joe Benjamin and Alex Dyer also taking to the field for Marshall and Luke Boden.

It was Guinan that had us back into the lead with under five minutes to go. Benjamin shot against a defender and the ball broke well for Guinan to finish well and that, we thought, was that. Of course there’s always another sting in the tale just around the corner and Pittman equalised once again in the 92nd minute from an Ian Westlake cross.

That second leveller could well have taken the wind out of our sails but with no extra time it was straight to penalties and time for Dunn to complete his turn around. Ian Westlake was the first to step up and Dunn saved to give us an early advantage. Gilligan put away his second of the night before Dunn saved once more, this time from Ashley Chambers. Guinan made it 2-0 before Leon Johnson shot wide and it was down to Abdul Osman to seal progression to Round Two. He duly scored and the celebrations began as we took our place in the next stage.

Whether or not you feel this is a worthwhile competition or not, if we can get through a few rounds then the excitement cannot help but build. Chris Dunn will certainly be thinking that the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy is very worthwhile indeed.