By Matt Cecil

Wanderers were held to a goalless draw at Adams Park on New Year's Day as a strong and resilient Barnet side held out for a point, ending Wycombe's run of successive victories.

It was a classic case of the visiting side putting numbers behind the ball as Paul Lambert's side chased the game in the second half, but Barnet were well-organised and limited the Blues to few goalscoring chances.

Lambert sprung no surprises to his starting line-up, with Gary Holt returning to the side after being named amongst the substitutes on Saturday due to a virus, while Rab Douglas made only his second appearance for the club between the sticks as Frank Fielding missed out after his loan spell ended yesterday.

The match was preceded by a moving minute's applause for Phil O'Donnell, who passed away on Saturday, and the match started slowly as perhaps the hectic Christmas schedule had taken its toll on the two sets of players.

With just one man up-front - new signing Cliff Akurang - Barnet were able to pack the midfield with five men and stifled the Blues' attacking options in the first period. Sergio Torres came reasonably close in the third minute when he connected with Russell Martin's corner, but goalscoring chances really were at a premium.

Michael Leary saw a long-range effort blocked on twelve minutes, and three minutes later Scott McGleish's glancing header from Craig Woodman's corner flashed wide.

It was a shame that the game had started so slowly, with a reasonable number of casual supporters turning up at Adams Park expecting to see hoards of entertainment given the Blues' recent run, but Wycombe's normal passing game was restricted by the pressure applied by the Bees.

Matt Bloomfield fired over from range on 18 minutes and John Sutton headed wide six minutes later, and suddenly the game was just starting to increase in tempo. Scott McGleish couldn't make a full contact to a cross when unmarked in the box, and Bloomfield's drilled cross across the box was well held by Rob Beckwith as Sergio Torres was ready to pounce at the back post.

Neither keeper had been forced into making a save in the first half, and only Neal Bishop's volley and Russell Martin's teasing cross brought about any noteworthy attempts before the break.

The second half was better though, and Sergio Torres came close to breaking the deadlock when his shot was blocked on the line by Ismail Yakubu after Gary Holt's cross had been tipped on to the bar on 57 minutes.

Four minutes later, Tommy Doherty saw yellow for dissent, and Leon Johnson's header from Russell Martin's free-kick was straight at Rob Beckwith. Nicky Nicolau and Woodman both entered the referee's notebook for fouls around the 70-minute mark, and Matt Bloomfield was just a lick of paint away from opening the scoring on 74 minutes.

The midfielder latched onto an excellent through-ball and cut the ball back inside the area before seeing the ball bounce back off the post and to the feet of a Barnet defender, but the real talking point of the game followed just a minute later.

More excellent work from Bloomfield on the edge of the box created the space for a shot, and when Rob Beckwith fumbled the ball out to Scott McGleish, the striker made no mistake by tapping it into an empty net. However, his celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag, although Paul Lambert felt afterwards that the decision was incorrect and the goal should have stood.

Stefan Oakes appeared as the game's only substitute on 80 minutes, replacing the booked Tommy Doherty, while Michael Leary also saw yellow for a foul. Jason Puncheon and Scott McGleish both saw efforts fly wide as the game drew to a close, but Stefan Oakes came even closer when his rasping free-kick bent just wide with the goalkeeper beaten on 85 minutes.

Hearts were firmly in mouths in stoppage time though, as Jason Puncheon ran clear of the Blues' defence to be in a one-on-one situation with Rab Douglas. However, the highly-rated winger dwelt too long on the ball and allowed David McCracken to race back and make an excellent challenge to prevent the goal.

The referee ended the match after three minutes of stoppage time and although it might have been an uninspiring ninety minutes, the Blues can look back at an excellent Christmas period which has seen them notch up thirteen points from a possible fifteen, keeping three clean sheets on the way.

Scott McGleish was booked after the final whistle for dissent after complaining too strongly for the referee's liking about the disallowed goal, but a home win would have been harsh on Barnet who defended well and restricted the Blues' normal game.

Wycombe's next fixture is at Mansfield Town on Tuesday 8th January, kick-off 7.45pm.

Wycombe: Douglas, Martin, McCracken, Johnson, Woodman, Torres, Bloomfield, Doherty (Oakes 81), Holt, Sutton, McGleish.
Subs Not Used: Bullock, Boucaud, Stockley, Daly.

Booked: Doherty, Woodman, McGleish.

Barnet: Beckwith, Porter, Devera, Yakubu, Gillet, Carew, Bishop, Leary, Nicolau, Puncheon, Akurang.

Subs Not Used: Harrison, Grazioli, O'Cearuill, Thomas, Birchall.

Booked: Nicolau, Leary.

Attendance: 4,818

Referee: Iain Williamson (Berkshire).