By Matt Cecil
Peter Taylor's men have lost 2-1 to Blue Square South side Chelmsford City, with an early goal from Oliver Berquez setting the Clarets on their way before Ricky Holmes doubled the lead on 25 minutes. Gary Holt's simple tap-in six minutes later gave Wycombe hope but the home side held on for an impressive victory.
Full report to follow.
Minute-by-minute updates can be found below.
Wanderers' Second Half XI:
Scott Shearer, David McCracken (Robbie Rice, 61), Darrell Ellams, Will Antwi, Leon Johnson, Gavin Grant (George Daly, 61), Gary Holt (John Mousinho, 61), Tommy Doherty (Scott Shulton, 61), Nathan Ashton (Lewwis Spence, 61), John Sutton, Magno Silva Vieira.
Wanderers' First Half XI:
Jamie Young, Leon Crooks, Craig Woodman (Darrell Ellams, 22), David McCracken (capt), Mike Williamson, Nathan Ashton, Gary Holt, Tommy Doherty, Leon Knight, Gavin Grant, Chris Zebroski.
Full-time:
It's all over here in Essex and maybe last night's game at Stevenage just took the steam out of the Wanderers as they fell to a defeat this afternoon. Now attention will turn to the short trip up the M40 on Tuesday as the Blues take on Oxford United in the penultimate pre-season friendly before Southend United visit Adams Park next Saturday.
87mins:
Positives from today can include the displays of Scott Shulton, Darrell Ellams, George Daly and Robbie Rice - the young quartet have performed well and will have given Peter Taylor encouragement. David McCracken looked strong in the first half, Chris Zebroski was the most creative man of the opening 45 minutes and Scott Shearer has made a couple of smart saves, but of course the result will cloud those displays if it stays as it is.
85mins:
Time to reveal the answer to our (or rather, Chelmsford's) trivia question from earlier: Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Everton are the three teams you were looking for (see 60mins).
82mins:
Wanderers are still plugging away as they hunt an equaliser but City are holding pretty firm and getting men behind the ball
75mins:
That's the spark we were looking for - Magno Vieira spanks an effort against the woodwork after keeper Danny Gay threw the ball straight to him 25 yards out. The Brazilian ran into the box, cut inside a marker and pulled the trigger, and the crossbar is probably still rattling.
73mins:
Cheers all round as the ball is kicked into the burger van on the far side - as you can guess, it's not the greatest game at the moment.
65mins:
George Daly uses those orange boots to good effect as he fires an effort goalwards, forcing the keeper into a decent save. There's a pause in proceedings now for a drinks break, just four minutes after five of the current Wycombe team came on.
61mins:
Here come the changes - Robbie Rice replaces Cracks at right-back, George Daly is on for Gavin Grant on the right-wing, Scott Shulton switches places with Tommy Doherty, John Mousinho replaces Gary Holt and Lewwis Spence comes on for Nathan Ashton.
That's a first senior appearance for Scott Shulton, following Calum Botham and Jamie Turley (who both played at Stevenage last night) and Darrell Ellams, who replaced Craig Woodman in the first half.
60mins:
I'll treat you to a little trivia question from today's programme to liven up proceedings - which three clubs that were among the original 12 members of the Football League in 1888 were also in the first FA Carling Premiership season in 1992? Answer to follow later.
55mins:
Robbie Rice, Scott Shulton, John Mousinho, Lewwis Spence and George Daly are all warming up as Tommy Doherty has a little disagreement with Oliver Berquez over a foul.
52mins:
Nathan Ashton's clever corner finds John Sutton unmarked on the penalty spot but his header flashed off for a goal-kick in difficult circumstances.
50mins:
A smart run and left-footed effort from Justin Miller is comfortably held by 'Shears' in goal.
48mins:
We're underway again here in Essex with five changes of personnel, with Scott Shearer, Will Antwi, Leon Johnson, John Sutton and Magno Silva Vieira coming on. Captain McCracken has switched to right-back in a fairly straightforward 4-4-2 set-up.
Half-time:
Join us again in 15 minutes - we're off to recharge the batteries (literally and metaphorically).
44mins:
The ball's in the net, but it won't count as Leon Knight's effort is ruled out for offside. Chris Zebroski's shot was deflected into Knighty's path inside the six-yard box but the linesman's flag was raised - I would argue about first and second phases but I'll save that for the league matches.
43mins:
Free-kick to the Wanderers just outside the box in a central position after a push on Nathan Ashton...but Ashton's effort bounces off the wall and out for a corner.
41mins:
Gary Holt loses the ball to Oliver Berquez in the midfield and the former Stevenage man found Kevin James inside the box, but his half volley was slightly too high and wide.
39mins:
The eloquently-named Bertie Brayley fires wide of the far post after receiving a fine pass inside the area, but Jamie Young didn't look too bothered as it passed a yard or three wide.
Chelmsford have been knocking the ball around nicely and have performed well in their pre-season campaign so far, drawing 2-2 with a strong Ipswich side before losing narrowly to Colchester in midweek.
35mins:
The second-half team are warming up and amongst them is 17-year-old George Daly, who featured twice for the Blues over Christmas last year. The striker received a call last night to join the squad after Scott McGleish's injury at Broadhall Way and is joined on the bench by fellow youngsters Scott Shulton and Robbie Rice.
Scotty told
wwfc.com before the game that his injury isn't as bad as first feared and he should be fine for the new season, just to set your minds at rest.
31mins:
GOAL! An unlikely scorer for the Blues as Gary Holt halves the deficit with the easiest goal he'll ever score. A hopeful long ball forward from Leon Crooks was fumbled by keeper Danny Gay after a lack of communication with his defender and the Scotsman was on hand to place the ball into the net.
27mins:
A scuffed effort from Kevin James rolls into the arms of Jamie Young after another enterprising passing move from the home side.
25mins:
GOAL - As simple as it gets really for Ricky Holmes as he meets Jeff Minton's free-kick to nod into an empty net after Jamie Young came off his line.23mins:
Great play by Leon Knight to win the ball to feed Gavin Grant, who skinned his man before seeing his effort well saved by Clarets keeper Danny Gay. Peter Taylor has named eleven substitutes again for today's game so we assume he'll make wholesale changes at the break once more.
22mins:
Southend boss Steve Tilson is again in attendance here today, having watched the Blues in action at Stevenage last night. His side provide the opposition for the only home pre-season friendly on Saturday 2nd August and it should be a good test for Peter Taylor's side, so hopefully there'll be a good crowd at Adams Park to mark the arrival of the new Wycombe manager.
On the pitch, skipper David McCracken just showed some impressive composure in the box to thwart a City attack, but Craig Woodman is being brought off as a precaution after picking up a knock on his head. No need to take risks with injuries so youngster Darrell Ellams comes on for his first senior appearance in the quarters.
14mins:
He's got pace, he's got tricky footwork and it appears Chris Zebroski is also strong in the air as he rises highest to meet Gavin Grant's right wing cross. The header may have been just off target but it was another promising sign from the new signing.
11mins:
Nothing much to add since the last update, other than to remind fans of the club's Open Day at Adams Park tomorrow. The event starts at 12pm and there'll be a fashion show, steel band, BBQ and plenty of activities to keep fans of all ages amused. Peter Taylor and his players will be present so come along and join in the fun.
7mins:
Well that wasn't part of the plan, and Wanderers must now look for a way back into the game against their Blue Square South opponents. Jeff King's side have invested a fair amount of money over the summer following their promotion from the Ryman Premier League last year, and expectations are reasonably high for their forthcoming campaign.
That said, Wycombe won't be happy at falling behind, and Chris Zebroski has looked the best player in the early exchanges so hopefully he'll be able to bag his second goal in two games today.
5mins:
GOAL - For the third game running, the Blues find themselves behind to an early goal, and the defence was opened up too easily as midfielder Oliver Berquez cruised through to slot past Jamie Young with an effort off the post.4mins:
First chance of the game falls to Chris Zebroski at the back post after a Leon Crooks cross was completely missed by two Clarets defenders, but the striker's effort was saved at the near post by Danny Gay.
2mins:
The Clarets have kicked off on a decent but dry-looking pitch which is surrounded by an athletics track with one main grandstand and a smaller stand on the opposite side.
15:00
We're expecting a 4-4-2 formation today after last night's 4-5-1 experiment, which means Gavin Grant and Nathan Ashton could be on the flanks with Leon Knight and Chris Zebroski up front.
14:55
Good afternoon and welcome to the very smart Chelmsford Sports and Athletic Centre as we look forward to the Blues' fifth pre-season friendly of the 2008/09 campaign.
It's the second game in under 24 hours for Peter Taylor's side, and after last night's 2-1 win at Stevenage Borough, let's hope the Wanderers can make it two in a row as they build up match practice ahead of the new season.
