By Ross Jeavons

The Wanderers fell to their second defeat of pre-season with a 2-1 loss at Blue Square South side Chelmsford City on Saturday afternoon.

 Read the clockwatch here.

Gary Holt's tap in late in the first period wasn't enough to cancel out strikes from Oliver Berquez and Ricky Holmes as the Clarets showed just why they stormed to the top of the Ryman Premier last season.

Impressive cameos from youngsters George Daly and Scott Shulton did give some hope to watching Chairboys fans, on a glorious day in Essex at the Melbourne Ground.

Wycombe didn't have long to enjoy the sunshine, as they fell behind to an early strike for the third game in succession.

The back four were cut open far too easily as Berquez found himself through on goal, slotting calmly past Young to leave the Wanderers defence scratching their heads.

Chris Zebroski scored his first goal in the quarters less than 24 hours earlier and it was he again who looked the most likely to drag the away side back into the game, heading just over from Gavin Grant's cross after a quarter of an hour.

It was Grant who stung the palms of City keeper Danny Gay moments later though, as he was sent through on the right hand side after tenacious work by Leon Knight.

The ex-Millwall frontman saw his low strike kept out well after showing impressive pace to dash behind the Chelmsford back line.

If the smattering of Blues fans thought that was to be the start of a come back they were sorely mistaken, as the home side doubled their lead just before the half hour mark.

Youngster Ricky Holmes has been looked at by a number of league clubs in the past and he showed why, heading home impressively after a whipped in set piece from Jeff Minton.

The Wanderers did grab one back just a couple of minutes later, as central midfield rock Gary Holt capitalised on a comedy of errors in the Clarets' defence.

Keeper Gay was involved in a almighty mix up with his centre halves as the ball eventually found its way to Holt ten yards out, who had the simple task of curling the ball into an unguarded net.

The ex-Forrest man hasn't scored many in his career, and surely that will have been his easiest.

Leon Knight had the ball in the net just before the break after bundling home from a deflected Chris Zebroski shot, however 'Knighty' was left frustrated by the assistant's raised flag on the near side.

The second half saw five changes of personnel, as Leon Johnson, Will Antwi, Scott Shearer, Magno Vieira and John Sutton all entered proceedings. 

A quiet opening to the second period prompted yet more changes however, as ten minutes in Wanderers fans saw the introduction of youngsters Robbie Rice, Lewwis Spence, George Daly, John Mousinho and Scott Shulton.

It was Daly who caught the eye from the off, showing blinding pace to bring the ball inside the area before cracking a low shot towards goal.

He was denied by yet another smart save from Gay, though the 17-year-old striker was showing just why he was handed his first team debut by Paul Lambert back in 2007.

Wycombe's luck was summed up as Magno Vieira rattled the crossbar with fifteen minutes remaining, the Brazilian showed neat footwork to capitalise on a poor throw out from the City keeper - but saw his curled effort smash back off the upright.

The final few minutes of the game petered out without much incident, as both teams suffered slightly in the gruelling conditions.

The Wanderers will look to get back on track once more when they take on local rivals Oxford United on Tuesday night, and the Blue Square Premier title favourites should be another tough test as Peter Taylor looks to settle on his final starting XI.

Check wwfc.com on Monday morning for all the reaction from Wycombe's mini-tour to Essex, as well as the thoughts of the gaffer on this weekends action.