By Matt Cecil

Wanderers made it three wins out of three with an excellent comeback against Brentford at Griffin Park, with goals from Sergio Torres, Scott McGleish and John Sutton giving the Blues a first Boxing Day victory since 1999.

Glenn Poole's rasping 25-yard volley gave the Bees the lead in the first-half but the sending-off of Ben Starosta on 45 minutes proved to be the catalyst for the turnaround, and in truth Wanderers should have added to their three second-half strikes to make the win more convincing.

The nightmare of Stockport is well and truly forgotten as Wanderers have now picked up three successive victories and look ahead to the trip to Shrewsbury on Saturday.

Paul Lambert kept faith with the sixteen that dispatched of Macclesfield at the weekend, and both sides started brightly with the Blues attacking the end in front of their own 1,076 supporters, who made plenty of noise throughout the afternoon.

The first chance of the game fell to the home side, who were full of confidence after collecting four points from two away games under caretaker boss Andy Scott, but Lee Thorpe's tame effort in the six-yard box was blocked by Russell Martin after good work by Alan Connell down the left.

But Wycombe were buoyant as well and proved that they weren't content to play for a point by committing plenty of men forward, and John Sutton could have opened the scoring on 8 minutes when a stray midfield pass from the Bees fell to Craig Woodman, who laid the ball into Sutton's path but the striker could only fire into the crowd.

Alan Connell was then set free at the other end, and obviously fancied his chances of scoring a fourth goal in three games when he volleyed from range when surely a little composure would have been the best option, and his shot bounced harmlessly wide of Frank Fielding's goal. The youngster was called into action again when he made a superb save to deny Connell inside the box, but the offside flag had already been raised.

It really was an end-to-end opening to the match, and Russell Martin produced a trademark volley to connect with a clearance from Sam Stockley's cross, but his effort flew the wrong side of the post.

And Wanderers' fans were put through sixty seconds of agony on 22 minutes when Leon Johnson's header bounced back off the crossbar from David McCracken's cross, but when Brentford broke, a world-class save from Frank Fielding denied Lee Thorpe and gave the Bees a corner. A cross from the right was met by Thorpe, who hit his effort into the ground and Fielding showed excellent reflexes to turn the ball over the bar.

But Ryan Dickson's corner was directed not into the box but to Glenn Poole, who was lurking unmarked some 25 yards from goal and fired an incredible volley past Fielding to give the home side the lead. There was nothing the young keeper could have done about it, and one moment of magic separated the sides.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the Blues, as the Griffin Park crowd got behind their team, and Sam Stockley was shown a yellow card for bringing down Charlie Ide on the right-wing. Ide had been a handful for Stockley all game and the right-back's foul summed up a difficult 45 minutes.

Wanderers almost found a way back into the game on 40 minutes, when Craig Woodman got into the box and pulled it back to Sergio Torres, whose low drive was very well saved by Simon Brown and John Sutton could only fire the rebound across the goalmouth, where no blue shirts were lurking.

But the real talking point of the game arrived in first-half stoppage time, when right-back Ben Starosta was shown a straight red card for a nasty lunge on Gary Holt. Referee Miller had no hesitation in giving the on-loan Sheffield United youngster his marching orders, and although the Blues went in behind at the break, the sending off gave the whole team - and its supporters - a huge lift.

The start of the second-half saw the arrival of Tommy Doherty in place of Sam Stockley, with Craig Woodman reverting to left-back and the 'Doc' partnering Gary Holt in the middle of the park. With his first few touches, it was clear that Doherty had lost none of his fantastic ability, as he dictated the tempo and showed an excellent range of passing to break the Bees' resistance.

Brentford, meanwhile, reverted to a 4-4-1 formation, and made it clear that they were quite happy to sit on their lead. They had produced an excellent display against MK Dons on Friday and had faith in their system to hold on to the three points.

But Wycombe were rampant. The Blues had all of the possession in the opening stages and hit the bar through Sergio Torres after a great cross by Doherty, although the flag had already been raised for offside.

They didn't have to wait long for the equaliser, though. A sublime pass across the box by Sutton was dummied by both Doherty and Bloomfield, and Sergio Torres was lurking ten yards from goal to curl a fantastic effort beyond the helpless Simon Brown to level the scores after 55 minutes.

Brentford responded by replacing the lively Connell with Darius Charles, but nothing could stop the Wanderers from creating wave after wave of attacks. John Sutton should have scored when he was free in the box, but his low effort was saved by Brown when a square-ball to Doherty might have been the better option.

But the second goal wasn't far away. Craig Woodman's lofted cross into the box seemed to be caught by keeper Brown, but he collided with his own centre-back Karleigh Osborne in the six-yard box after 61 minutes. Brown subsequently dropped the ball at the feet of Scott McGleish, who could hardly miss just yards from the empty net. It was his fourth goal in three games but the easiest goal he'll ever score.

And two became three just moments later when a corner by Craig Woodman was headed back out to him, and his cross had pinpoint accuracy to meet the head of John Sutton at the back post, and the big man stooped to put the ball beyond Brown and extend the lead.

Strangely enough, the goal seemed to bring Brentford back to life, and they looked capable of getting a goal back. Glenn Poole's dipping free-kick was smartly tipped over the bar by Fielding on 67 minutes, although Andy Scott opted to replace his goalscorer with pacy striker Emile Sinclair, who caused a couple of minor problems for the Blues.

But make no mistake about it, Wanderers never looked like throwing it away. After Gary Smith was booked for a foul on Sergio Torres on 72 minutes, John Sutton should have made it four but took a touch too many in the box from a Woodman cutback, and Scott McGleish tried to dance around the keeper when simply smashing the ball home would surely have brought a fourth goal, but Brown went down well to save.

Tommy Doherty and Gary Holt were performing majestically in the centre of midfield, dictating the play and breaking up any attacks that the Bees threw at them. Doherty in particular brought a touch of class and composure to the midfield and looked as though he has recaptured his fitness, which will be a huge plus for Paul Lambert.

After 86 minutes, Paul Lambert gave a debut to 17-year-old striker George Daly, who has bagged three hat-tricks for the youth team this season, and was called into action to replace Scott McGleish. In his brief appearance, he almost brought about a goal with a terrific challenge on Osborne, but Bloomfield was unable to capitalise on the loose ball.

Martin Bullock came on in the closing stages for Sergio, and Kevin O'Connor saw a late header fly wide for the home side but the result was never in doubt and the referee brought an end to proceedings to give Wycombe their third straight victory and their first win at Griffin Park since entering the Football League.

Wanderers will now be looking to turn three wins into four at Shrewsbury on Saturday, and if Scott McGleish and John Sutton can continue their excellent recent form then don't bet against an away win.

Brentford: Brown, Starosta, Heywood, Osborne, Dickson, Ide, O'Connor, Smith, Poole (Sinclair, 69), Thorpe, Connell (Charles, 56).
Subs: Masters, Moore, Pead

Goal: Poole (22)

Yellow: Smith (72)

Red: Starosta (45)

Wycombe: Fielding, Martin, Stockley (Doherty, 45), McCracken, Johnson, Torres (Bullock, 90), Holt, Bloomfield, Woodman, McGleish (Daly, 86), Sutton.
Subs: Oakes, Christon

Goals: Torres (55), McGleish (61), Sutton (65)

Yellow: Stockley (36)

Referee: Pat Miller

Attendance: 5841 (1076 in the away end)