Chris Forino is the toast of Wycombe tonight, scoring the only goal to defeat local neighbours Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.
The defender headed home Alfie Mawson's impeccable cross the break the deadlock and a firm rearguard display did its job to secure the points.
Gareth Ainsworth was able to recall Dominic Gape to the starting XI after he missed the defeat to Plymouth through injury, while Joe Jacobson also came into the side as Daryl Horgan and Nick Freeman dropped to the bench.
The game began relatively tamely, with neither side able to penetrate the other’s penalty area, although James Henry’s stinging drive from 20 yards forced Max Stryjek into a smart save to his right.
Drama then unfolded 15 minutes in, when Chris Forino’s back header was reached by Marcus Browne and he was caught by Max Stryjek, giving the referee no choice but to award a penalty. Cameron Brannagan stepped up but Stryjek made amends with a superb save to his left, and then an even better reaction save to prevent James Henry from the rebound.
Within moments, the referee was alerted to an incident in the home stand, where an Oxford supporter had fallen ill and required medical treatment. The game was halted for close to 45 minutes before resuming at 4pm.
The interval may have played a part in Dominic Gape pulling up with a muscle strain moments after the restart, forcing a change with Nick Freeman coming into the midfield.
There was little to excite either set of fans for the next 10 minutes but it was the 1,368 Chairboys fans who were on their feet to celebrate the opening goal, which came courtesy of a superb partnership between two central defenders.
Chris Forino stayed high up the pitch following a corner and Alfie Mawson drilled a sensational cross right into his path, enabling him to peel away from his man and cushion a header into the corner.
The U’s reacted well and could’ve been level before half-time, with a succession of chances coming in six minutes of stoppage time. Joe Jacobson was booked for a foul before Chris Forino blocked Marcus Browne’s effort from a tight angle.
Ciaron Brown got two efforts away from the resulting corner but saw them both blocked, before Brannagan’s sweetly-struck effort from 20 yards was deflected over the bar by Jacobson’s brave header.
That was it for a prolonged first half, and the start of the second period was regularly disrupted by fouls and yellow cards with neither side able to find their rhythm. Oxford had more of the territory, but shots from range were well blocked.
Stryjek held a close-range header from a cross from the left, before Wanderers created a series of opportunities of their own, with Garath McCleary’s well-struck cross-shot just evading Sam Vokes, and Forino heading wide from a Jordan Obita cross.
Oxford cranked up the pressure late on, with Wycombe bringing on Jack Grimmer and Jasper Pattenden to freshen up the midfield who were being made to work hard to chase the U’s down across the pitch. Lewis Wing and Garath McCleary were the ones to make way.
But the U's ran out of the ideas as Wanderers held firm and the points go east down the M40.