Wycombe Wanderers 3-0 Burton Albion: FLW reports as Chairboys cruise to victory over Brewers | OneFootball

Wycombe Wanderers hosted an in-form Burton Albion side as the play-off race heats up in League One.

Wycombe Wanderers beat Burton Albion 3-0 at Adams Park, after an end-to-end game which saw the Chairboys captialise on a strong five minutes.

The Chairboys started well and made their early pressure pay. Caolan Boyd-Munce with a stunning solo effort from the edge of the box to give his side the lead inside 15 minutes.

Burton dominated much of the first half, and had good chances to level through Tyrese Shade and Andy Cannon, but Wycombe had an answer to everything to preserve their lead into the break.

Wanderers then wrapped up the game with two quickfire goals from Luke Harris, who forced an error from Brad Collins, before Nathan Lowe netted his second in as many games for his new club.

Wycombe Wanderers 3-0 Burton Albion

The first real chance of the afternoon went the way of the visitors. Some good wing play from Burton allowed Shade to drill a low cross towards Cannon, who arrived unmarked and smashed an effort straight at Norris.

On the 15-minute mark, it was Wycombe who took the lead. Boyd-Munce picked up the ball on the edge of the box, and curled a spectacular shot off Collins' far post and into the back of the net.

Norris then almost cost his side with a short pass out from a goalkick to Ewan Henderson. Fortunately for Michael Duff's side, Anders Hagelsjkaer was on hand to block Jake Beesley's powerful effort.

The Brewers ended the second half strong, with plenty of balls being launched into the box, particularly from ex-Chairboy Alex Hartridge's long throw, but Wanderers held firm and preserved their lead into the break.

In rather bizarre circumstances, Wycombe boss Duff wasn't allowed in the dugout for the second half, as he was shown a rea card at the break.

The Chairboys started the second half well, and almost had a second goal from Boyd-Munce. The midfielder curled an identical shot to the one that opened the scoring, which crashed off the crossbar.

It was a game of few clear-cut chances for both sides. Burton could only muster ranged efforts which were easily saved by Norris, but also managed to keep Wanderers quiet by marshalling their wings well.

That was until the 80th minute, when Duff's side doubled their lead in rather bizarre fashion. A scuffed shot from Fulham loanee Harris looked to be an easy catch for Collins, but the Burton keeper let it slip through his gloves.

Wycombe then put the game to bed just over a minute later. A long ball over the top from Boyd-Munce was taken down by Lowe, who netted his second in as many games for his new club.

The hosts saw out the rest of the game comfortably, collecting a big three points in the play-off race, and closing in on sixth-place Huddersfield Town, who dropped points at Wigan Athletic.

Wycombe Wanderers player ratings

Burton Albion player ratings

B. Collins - 4

K. Lofthouse - 7 (J. Larsson 87'(5))

U. Godwin-Malfie - 6

T. Vancooten - 6

T. Sibbick - 7

A. Hartridge - 6

G. Evans - 5

A. Cannon - 6 (J. McKiernan 69'(5))

K. Chauke - 5 (S. Krubally 78'(5))

J. Beesley - 5 (J. Moon 87'(5))

T. Shade - 5 (F. Tavares 78'(5))

Unused substitutes: K. Dudek, J. Sraha

Alex Morris reacts as Wycombe Wanderers overcome Burton Albion

Michael Duff was unable to speak to the press following his sending off at half-time, so first team coach Alex Morris instead took the interviews instead.

Morris said on Duff's red card: "It was during half-time. We don't know what came about and the details, we haven't had a chance to discuss that."

"When it came to light that he couldn't come out for the second half, we were making adjustments as to how we could communicate any of the messages that the gaffer wanted to be relayed onto the pitch.

"He couldn't watch it [the game] out in the stands, so he had to watch it in the changing rooms. Obviously, with that comes challenges. There was a three-second delay in the game versus what he was actually seeing."

Speaking about the game, Morris followed on with: "We found a way to win the game. Obviously, it wasn't pleasing the eye, but the consequence was winning the game of football, and we've put ourselves in a position where we can really attack the back end of the season.

"We've got a strong squad and I think how strong the bench was going into the game was highlighted by the performances of the boys that came on.

"Obviously, we made the change at half-time with Aaron Morley coming on. He really had a good influence and impact on the game, with and without the ball for us.

"There was another unforced change with Anders [Hagelskjaer], and Taylor Allen coming on. Taylor's been out of the team for a while now, with that comes frustrations, but he came in and showed a magnificent approach to the game."

Gary Bowyer disappointed as Burton Albion fall to defeat at Wycombe

Speaking to the press post-match, Burton manager Gary Bowyer said: "We had the best chance of the game — Andy Cannon's one [in the first half].

"We then had the best chance of the whole game with Jake Beesley, and then at half-time, we talked about demanding more urgency or more energy.

"There's nothing in the game. You can feel it a little bit and then, obviously, we have the goalkeeping error which we can't legislate for.