By Matt Cecil

Wanderers have made it four wins in a row with a fantastic 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town at the New Stadium, with John Sutton's seventh minute strike separating the sides.

It was nail-biting stuff at times, with the Shrews hitting the bar three times in as many minutes at the start of a frantic second-half, but the Blues defended resiliently throughout and were full value for the three points.

Paul Lambert's side dominated the first-half and deservedly took the lead on seven minutes when Tommy Doherty's quick free kick allowed Russell Martin to send in an excellent cross to the back post, where Scott McGleish was lurking unmarked. The striker's effort was parried by keeper Glyn Garner but Sutton was on hand to fire home from close range.

Frank Fielding was barely troubled in the opening period and it was only after the break when Shrewsbury came to life, and caused some nervous moments for the visitors. But the Blues, inspired by a fantastic travelling support, held firm and clinched their fourth away win of the campaign.

Blues made two changes to the side that started at Brentford on Boxing Day, with Gary Holt dropping to the bench due to a virus, which meant that Stefan Oakes was given a starting role in midfield alongside Tommy Doherty, who replaced Sam Stockley.

The afternoon got off to a bizarre start when the kick-off was delayed by several minutes due to the floodlights on one side of the stadium not working. Although it wasn't particularly dark at 3pm, referee Karl Evans was keen to ensure that all the lights were fully functional before the game got underway.

While the problem was being sorted, Wanderers took to the pitch to knock a ball around to keep warm, while Shrewsbury opted to stay in the dressing room, and perhaps Paul Lambert's decision to send his troops out early was a key factor in his side's bright start to the match.

The passes were sharp and fizzed across the damp surface as both sides got to grips with the cold, wet and windy conditions in the opening exchanges, and the first goalscoring opportunuity brought about Sutton's opener on seven minutes.

Tommy Doherty, who was labelled by a Shrewsbury official ahead of kick-off as "past it", showed his ability to dictate the tempo of matches by taking a quick free-kick to Russell Martin, catching the home defence asleep. Martin's early cross to the back post was met by the unmarked McGleish, whose effort fell kindly to Sutton and the deadly strike partnership had notched up a seventh goal in four matches between them.

Shrewsbury showed no signs of recovering from the deficit, with their long ball game causing no problems for the Wanderers' backline in the early stages, and the visitors almost doubled the lead when a poor clearance allowed Matt Bloomfield to feed McGleish inside the area. The striker's cross needed to be headed off the line by the Shrews and Sergio Torres' volley from the clearance bounced over the bar.

The game was played at a fast pace and, as a result, there were a number of niggly fouls, although Mr Evans did a good job at preventing anything boiling over. Stefan Oakes was the first to enter his notebook for a late and unnecessary tackle on David Hunt inside his own half, but Stefan was showing a great determination to battle for his place in the starting line-up having been named as a substitute in recent weeks.

The 'Doc' then showed another side to his game on 22 minutes with a rasping effort from long range which tested the handling of Glyn Garner as Wycombe continued to lay siege on the home goal, and Russell Martin saw a free-kick saved four minutes later after a foul by Hunt on Sergio Torres resulted in the Shrew seeing a yellow card.

It might seem biased but Shrewsbury genuinely didn't offer anything going forward in the first half hour, as the Blues midfield thwarted any creativity produced by the home side, and the long ball approach was dealt with comfortably by Messrs McCracken and Johnson, who were both excellent at the back. Ian Culverhouse has spoken recently about how the coaching staff have been encouraging the team to press for the ball higher up the pitch and it was working wonders in the first half at the New Stadium.

On 30 minutes, John Sutton came close to doubling the lead when he latched on to an excellent through-ball from Matt Bloomfield and saw his effort parried away for a corner by Garner. Tommy Doherty started the move in his own half with an excellent tackle before releasing Bloomfield, who surged forward and provided the opportunity for Sutton to test the keeper.

Shrewsbury manager Gary Peters then decided to err on the side of caution by replacing David Hunt with Neil Ashton in a move which seemed to be tactical rather than due to an injury, as Hunt had already been booked and could have been provoked into being sent off in a game that was full of strong tackles. Ashton proved to be an excellent substitute for the Shrews, covering a lot of ground and starting a lot of attacking moves for the home side.

On 34 minutes, Shrewsbury created an opening down the right hand side and Dave Hibbert's low cross was expertly handled by Frank Fielding, who needed to be at his best as any fumble would have been seized upon by the lurking attackers. Wanderers had been doing an excellent job of keeping dangerman Ben Davies quiet, knowing that given time on the ball, Davies was capable of creating trouble.

The Blues led at the break and prompted Peters to replace Ben Herd with the pacy Chris Humphrey. And whatever the Shrews manager said to his team at the break, it certainly seemed to have worked, as they created wave after wave of attacks in the opening minutes of the second period.

Davies' free-kick saw Kelvin Langmead's header loop off the crossbar, and moments later, Colin Murdock's stooping header from a corner looked destined to nestle in the far corner before Frank Fielding arrived from nowhere to push the ball behind. The home supporters were raucous and could sense a goal, and they nearly got their wish when Marc Tierney hit the bar twice in quick succession, sparking the most chaotic of goalmouth scrambles which was somehow cleared by the sturdy Blues defence.

But Wycombe rode the storm, and recovered from the pressure. On 57 minutes, a deep cross from Stefan Oakes found the head of Scott McGleish, who was unmarked in the area, but the striker was always stretching for the ball and he could only divert his header over the crossbar. Two minutes later, a cross from the left was met by the boot of McGleish, but again the ball ended up in the stand.

Neil Ashton then saw yellow for a clumsy tackle from behind on Sergio, and moments later Gary Holt was introduced in place of Stefan Oakes, who was sailing close to the line in terms of risky tackling having already been booked.

Shrewsbury also made a change on 67 minutes, replacing Andy Cooke with the tricky Marc Pugh. Cooke had looked dangerous up front for the home side, but is still recuperating from a long-term injury and wasn't deemed fit enough to last the full ninety. A minute later, Davies shot straight at Fielding following a corner, and the young keeper's handling was as faultless as ever.

Youngster George Daly was then given his second taste of league football on 74 minutes, replacing the weary McGleish up front, and the 17-year-old looked lively up front by chasing down seemingly lost causes and making his presence felt.

The home crowd rose to their feet on 75 minutes to celebrate what looked like a goal, but Marc Tierney's effort from range made the wrong side of the net bulge as his shot flew past the post. And then Shrewsbury began to crank up the pressure.

Hearts were in mouths when dangerman Ben Davies was given a chance to shoot at goal with a free-kick from twenty yards, but Fielding was equal to it and made a smart save down to his right to ease the nerves. Davies probably should have equalised though on 85 minutes when Hibbert's low cross was turned over the bar by the sliding midfielder, and he would be left to rue his miss as the home side failed to turn their pressure into goals.

Kelvin Langmead saw a low shot comfortably saved by Fielding as the game draw to a close, and George Daly went into the book for a late tackle on Tierney as enthusiasm got the better of the youngster. Andre Boucaud appeared as a late substitute for Tommy Doherty and entered the book for kicking the ball away as the Blues tried to run down the clock. Four minutes of injury time were added but somehow the officials decided to play almost seven; nevertheless, Shrewsbury were unable to capitalise and a jubilant Wanderers team were able to celebrate a fantastic away victory which leaves them just four points off an automatic place.

Picking a man-of-the-match would be unfair. Each and every one of Wanderers' stars played a huge role in the victory, from Frank Fielding's heroics and composure in goal to the excellent link-up play yet again of the front two. Paul Lambert's tactics were spot on, while the fitness of the Blues' players can also be commended after a challenging busy Christmas period.

The travelling Wanderers support must also be praised not only for the excellent volume of noise created but also for the great numbers of fans who made the journey north. 415 supporters were in attendance to spur their side to victory, and the players showed their appreciation at the end with some memorable celebrations at the final whistle.

Wycombe now look to build on their fantastic home record and begin 2008 with a bang when Barnet come to town on New Year's Day, but for now we can reflect on a magnificent away day which has ended 2007 on the best possible note.

Shrewsbury: Garner, Langmead, Darren Moss, Murdock, Herd (Humphrey 46), Davies, Drummond, Hunt (Ashton 31), Tierney, Hibbert, Cooke (Pugh 68).
Subs Not Used: Kempson, Esson.

Booked: Hunt, Ashton.

Wycombe: Fielding, Martin, McCracken, Johnson, Woodman, Bloomfield, Oakes (Holt 65), Doherty (Boucaud 90), Torres, Sutton, McGleish (Daly 74).
Subs Not Used: Bullock, Stockley.

Booked: Oakes, Daly, Boucaud.

Goals: Sutton 8.

Attendance: 6,208 (415 from Wycombe)

Referee: Karl Evans (Greater Manchester).

Paul Lambert said after the game: "We've had some big big results since I've been here but this one is up there amongst the best. We had to battle hard but we deserved the three points and it's an absolutely colossal win for us.

"Our supporters were really really terrific today. Everything went wrong at Stockport three weeks ago but we needed them to help us recover, and the way that everyone's responded has been first-class."