January signing Nathan Lowe netted once and assisted once on his debut for Wycombe Wanderers against Stevenage. Cauley Woodrow too netted, an audacious 20-yard chip over a keeper stuck in no mans land to take his tally to three goals in six games for the Chairboys, his best run of the season.
It seems Wycombe’s prayers for a goalscoring number nine have been answered doubly, with the youthful target man of Lowe and the experienced journeyman Woodrow both coming into scoring form at a vital part of the season.
This, however, likely spells the end of gametime for 22-year-old striker Bradley Fink. In his last two games, he made an appearance of just a combined three minutes against Exeter City and Reading, and has failed to find the net in 301 minutes of League One football. Lowe, meanwhile, scored within five minutes of his debut.
I have written in the past on the curious case of Bradley Fink, but since then Woodrow has came into form and Lowe has impressed on his debut.
Football is a cruel game at times, and Fink will feel that more than any, bar perhaps Alex Lowry in this Chairboys team. The stress and anxiety of not scoring would be plastered on the tall Swiss man’s face every time he took to the pitch, and with every rushed shot and missed chance the barrier to finally getting his first league goal seemed higher and higher.
Perhaps most frustratingly, he often did the right things, found the right space, even took the right shot, but the goal never came, a mixture of subpar finishing but also the strong saves from the opposite goalkeeper.
And now with two fit strikers available for selection, both with goals in the quarters, it looks incredibly unlikely that this season Fink will get the chance to break his unfortunate record. Even Fred Onyedinma has been favoured up front by Michael Duff, and for now it seems the curtain has closed on Fink’s season.
This does not mean he will not get a chance again next season. Both Lowe and Woodrow are loanees, meaning Fink will be the only contracted striker left at the club heading into the next season. It could well be a case that with a year in England under his belt, and time to adapt to Duff’s system and demands, he could come out stronger next season.
However, we can also not discount Wycombe simply moving on Fink and looking anew in the summer market. Wycombe were willing to abandon the Magnus Westergaard project following the signings of Caolan Boyd-Munce, Ewan Henderson and Aaron Morley, and they may be willing to do so too with Fink.
A loan spell could also be sanctioned to allow the striker to go get regular gametime, perhaps in League Two to continue his adaptation to the EFL.
Regardless of what happens in the future, it seems the curtain has closed on Fink’s season, bar a number of injuries. We now turn to the summer window to see what will happen with the Swiss strikers long term future.
