Ainsworth pleased despite late slip

Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth plans to celebrate his 42nd birthday on Sunday with a cold beer after his side carved out a narrow advantage in their League Two play-off semi-final against Plymouth.The Chairboys seemed to be coasting towards a Wembley final date after Paul Hayes, Aaron Holloway and Steven Craig gave them a 3-0 lead in Devon, but late strikes from home substitutes Zak Ansah and Jason Banton ensured that Thursday's second leg at Adams Park will be a tense affair.But Ainsworth refused to be downhearted after seeing his side pegged back in a dramatic finale at Home Park."I'd have a taken 1-0 this morning, as would have every player in my squad," Ainsworth said."Being 3-0 up you think 'could we have held on?' - but it doesn't matter. We're one-up going into the next game and I'm really proud of the boys."We've come here and scored three goals against a really good Plymouth side and this stadium was rocking, so that makes the result even better."It's my birthday on Sunday so I can have a cold beer and relax."Wycombe finished 13 points better off than Plymouth in the regular League Two campaign and that gap was evident as the Pilgrims faded after a promising start.Even the absence of regular goalkeeper Matt Ingram did not faze Wycombe as 20-year-old Alex Lynch, who was making his first start in senior football, was superbly protected by those in front of him."We matched their energy first half and I felt some of the stuff we played in the second half was awesome," Ainsworth said."The momentum was with them at the end and another 10 minutes would have been tough for us, but the referee's whistle stopped that momentum and they can't take that into Thursday."We've got another 90 minutes at our place and hopefully we can finish the job."It's all positives for me and if we approach Thursday anything like this we won't go far wrong."Plymouth manager John Sheridan admitted he saw little hope for his side after falling 3-0 behind but he believes the Pilgrims now hold the psychological edge heading to Buckinghamshire."I couldn't see us getting back in the game at 3-0 down, so it's a really good response and we've put ourselves right back in the tie," Sheridan said."When you go 3-0 down you think 'deary me, where are you going to get your break from?'."But the substitutions came off - they don't always - and we've got back in the game, so full credit to us."It's very tight but the last two times we've been to Wycombe we've won."Wycombe's second goal might have been ruled out as Craig appeared to handle before Holloway's superb strike but Sheridan blamed his players for not playing to the referee's whistle."Everyone says the second goal was handball but we've stopped," Sheridan said."If the referee thinks it's handball he'll blow but he hasn't and it's cost us."I think we can play a lot better because maybe some of my players got caught up in the hype, but getting back to 3-2 gives us a good chance."

Source: PA