Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 Rotherham United: FLW Reports as Ipswich Town loanee steals the show | OneFootball

All the action and reaction from Adams Park as Matt Bloomfield's Wycombe Wanderers butted heads with Steve Evans' Rotherham United.

Wycombe Wanderers defeated Rotherham United 2-0 at Adams Park to record their first three points of the season.

The first half was a fairly even contest, as both sides showed glimmers of hope, but neither were able to find a way through.

Mallik Wilks had the best chance of the half for the Millers, which forced a save straight out of the top drawer from Franco Ravizzoli.

Goals from Cameron Humphreys and Kieran Sadlier in the second half however secured the points for Wycombe, with Steve Evans' Millers now winless in three.

Wycombe Wanderers defeat Rotherham United as Cameron Humphreys steals the show

Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

The hosts started well in the early exchanges, with Daniel Udoh looking lively and forcing a corner early doors. All that work almost came to nothing as a loose pass by Alex Hartridge gifted Jordan Hugill the ball.

The former Norwich striker was clean through on goal but Josh Scowen had to pull him down and take a yellow card, denying a certain goal. The resulting free-kick was no problem for Ravizzoli in the Wanderers net.

This gave the Millers some confidence as they continued to attack Wycombe's box. A long-range effort was charged down by Scowen, then Sam Nombe caught a shot with his wrong foot that hit the side netting.

Richard Kone and Udoh linked up for the first time just before the quarter-hour mark. The latter squared the ball to the Ivorian, who shot straight at Phillips in the Rotherham net. Evans' side then forced another corner thanks to some brilliant defending by Dan Harvie. Hakeem Odoffin got enough power on the header but not the direction as it sailed wide.

Odoffin was involved moments later as he picked up the ball from a throw-in, darted past three Wycombe players before laying it off to Joe Powell. The former Burton man's shot was easily gathered by Ravizzoli.

Jamie McCart picked up the first booking for the visitors, as Udoh left him for dead and the Northern Irishman was forced to hack him down. Malik Wilks was then shown a yellow moments later, much to the disapproval of the away bench.

The hosts were starting to find their feet, a ball in from McCleary evaded everyone until Udoh rose like a salmon. It looked for all the world the net would bulge, but the Nigerian just missed the ball. Kone then picked McCart's pocket and broke free on the right, laying the ball back to Butcher, whose effort was caught by Phillips.

The Argentine in-between the Wanderers sticks had to make the first full-stretch save of the contest, as former Sheffield Wednesday winger Wilks' strike from the right looked to be curling in. The man deputizing for the injured Nathan Bishop, managed to get fingertips to the effort.

Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

Wycombe skipper Jack Grimmer was withdrawn at half-time as he picked up a knock in the opening 45 minutes. Jason McCarthy took his place, with Scowen taking the armband for the second period.

Former Exeter striker Nombe had the best chance of the half so far. A deep curling ball from Liam Kelly found the number eight's head. It had Ravizzoli scrambling but rolled past the post.

The Argentine then denied Wilks again superbly. The winger darted into the box, but Wycombe's number one tipped his effort onto the outside of the post.

Wanderers looked a yard short of their opponents in the opening five minutes of the half, and Bloomfield reacted by introducing Aaron Morley and Cameron Humphreys for their Wycombe debuts. The changes saw Kone and Butcher withdrawn, in a change of shape that left Udoh on his own up front.

The two new signings got the home crowd going instantly, particularly Humphreys who used his energy to turn his man and release Sadlier. Both looked to add a new dimension to the game in the Chairboys midfield.

It wouldn't be third time lucky for Wilks. Rotherham won the ball back off Harvie and found the winger. His shot was turned wide again by another superb Ravizzoli save.

Ipswich loanee Humphreys was beginning to steal the show, forcing a corner with his cross. He then collected the ball from the resultant corner and curled an effort that Phillips had to tip over the bar.

Evans's side then thought they'd taken the lead through Nombe. He rose the highest to head past Ravizzoli from close range. The striker ran over to the travelling Millers fans thinking he'd scored. He turned round, wondering why nobody was celebrating with him, only to realise the linesman had his flag up.

Then, Humphreys would mark his debut with a memorable goal. The substitute burst past the Rotherham back line, twisting past Reece James before squeezing a powerful strike past Phillips. A moment he and the Wycombe fans will never forget.

Rotherham were having a nightmare in front of goal, as whatever they tried to do just wouldn't find the back of the net. Evans responded by bringing on Jack Holmes in place of Shaun McWilliams. Jonson Clarke-Harris and Joe Hungbo were also introduced to take over from former West Ham man Hugill and Powell.

Gideon Kodua also made his second Wycombe debut in the 83rd minute, as he replaced veteran McCleary.

It went from bad to worse for Rotherham as Sadlier burst past Odoffin into the Millers box, and a late challenge from number 22 saw Carl Brook point to the spot.

Ex-Millers winger Sadlier stepped up to take it and slotted past Phillips to put the first three points of the season beyond doubt for Matt Bloomfield's side.

Morley nearly matched Humphreys with a debut goal in stoppage time, but it was turned behind for a corner. That was the last of the chances as the referee blew for full-time.

A convincing win for the Wanderers, who are now off the mark in League One this season. The visitors remain winless in their opening three games, which is a million miles away from where they'd hoped to be.

Speaking post-match, Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield said: “I’m really pleased with the performance.

"I think we dominated possession and territory and I was really pleased with the way we attacked the game. We knew we needed to make it a football game, we needed the ball in play and on the grass as much as we possibly could.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, Steve [Evans] has recruited incredibly well. They’ve got players who know the level in their team so we knew it wasn’t going to be all plain-sailing. But I’m really pleased with the way we stuck to our task.

“We’ve got to be really careful when protecting the lads. Bishop, Tafazolli are going to be out for a while, Lukey [Leahy] on Tuesday evening and Jack’s [Grimmer] today.

"We’re a little bit down to the bare-bones at the minute. We need to [sign players] with the amount of games we’ve got coming up and the injuries we’re carrying."

Evans however in the opposite dugout was slightly less magnanimous, saying: “We had good opportunities in the final third so from that point of view it’s very disappointing.

"I thought there were spells today that we played as well as we could against Wycombe for long spells.

“It’s the quietest I have heard the supporters here until they scored, and that’s because of our dominance.

“We dominated for long, long spells but you have to make your own luck.

J. Grimmer - 6 (J. McCarthy 45’ - 6)

J. Low - 8 A. Hartridge - 6 D. Harvie - 7 M. Butcher - 6 (A. Morley 52’ - 7) J. Scowen - 7 G. McCleary - 6 (G. Kodua 82’ - 5) K. Sadlier - 9 (T. Bakinson 90+2’ - N/A) D. Udoh - 7

R. Kone - 5 (C. Humphreys 52’ - 8)

Rotherham United player ratings

D. Phillips - 6

R. James - 6

J. McCart - 4 C. Humphreys - 6 H. Odoffin - 5 J. Powell - 5 (J. Hungbo 84’ - 5) L. Kelly - 6 S. McWilliams - 5 (J. Holmes 75’ - 5) M. Wilks - 6 S. Nombe - 6