Villa overturn the Chairboys

The old adage about football being a game of two halves is rarely true. About twice a season a (Manchester) team produces a stunning second-half fight-back (against Spurs) to keep the saying in circulation, but it rarely happens. It did at the Causeway stadium last night though, Villa fans going from chanting ‘What a load of rubbish’ at half-time to dancing the conga on the final whistle.

The jeers were justified, after David O'Leary's side had been outplayed and outfought by their League Two opponents before the interval. Villa's centre-back pairing of Gary Cahill and Liam Ridgewell looked rare and Nathan Tyson soon took advantage, heading the home side into a sixth-minute lead. Davis soon levelled, prodding home after a sweeping move but Roger Johnson and Tommy Mooney then capitalised on two Villa mistakes to make it 3-1 as the visitors were heckled by their fans.

"They want you out one minute and they want you to have a new contract the next," O’Leary said. "You take no notice. Football is fickle." He could of course, because his side had just netted seven goals in 42 second-half minutes to give the scoreline a one-sided appearance. Baroš scored a tap-in three minutes into the second half to begin the turnaround and a burst of four strikes in 14 minutes soon took Villa to 6-3. "There were a few reminders at half-time and a few things to be said," O'Leary said.

Milner's curler made it 3-3, Clint Easton diverted a harmless Patrick Berger pass into his own net and then the impressive Barry scored twice, from a penalty after Danny Senda was perhaps wrongly adjudged to have fouled Baroš and then from a cross by the Czech striker. Milner and Davis added further crisp strikes to make this Villa's biggest win in more than 40 years and take them into the third round draw.