DANNIE Bulman's first touch in the Football League earned Wanderers their first point of the season with a cheeky ricochet off his backside.

The 19-year-old debutant had only been on the field 15 seconds when he charged down a clearance from Rovers goalkeeper Lee Jones in the 93rd minute.

The ball cannoned off Bulman's backside and rolled into the empty net to cancel out Barry Hayles' 84th minute opener for Rovers.

Bulman joked: "It was a very painful but brilliant moment. I don't need to get a tattoo now because I've got Mitre imprinted on the top of my leg. It was worth the pain."

There are no official records for the quickest-ever debut goal, but Bulman's bummer is nowhere near the quickest ever goal from a substitute. That record belongs to Huddersfield's Phil Starbuck who took just three seconds to fill the net against Wigan in 1993.

Although Bulman's was a freak equaliser, he deserved it as he sprinted 30 yards to close down the goalkeeper to make something out of nothing. And it is no coincidence that Blues' first point came from the only player Smillie was given money to buy this summer, in a £5,000 deal from non-league Ashford Town.

But Blues' hero was not allowed to go out and celebrate because of training the next day, but on the pitch he could not contain his joy as he celebrated in front of the 1,100 stunned Bristol fans.

Bulman said: "Their fans had been giving me a bit of stick when I was warming up so it was nice to have the last laugh."

Relieved Smillie said: "The substitution worked in a manner I didn't expect it to. He showed some energy just when we needed it. He chased a lost cause and turned it into something. We played with excellent spirit and if we keep playing with spirit like that we'll be ok. You make your own luck and Dannie did that."

But the long-overdue point, Blues' first in five attempts, was achieved at a massive cost as skipper Keith Ryan was stretchered off again in the 62nd minute with knee ligament damage which will keep him out long term.

It was a major surprise that Ryan even started the match.

He had been suffering with a sprained ankle and wasn't even deemed fit enough to make the substitutes bench at York 48 hours earlier - but his inclusion proved desperate situations require desperate measures.

Blues also suffered more bad luck when referee Roger Fernandiz added to his catalogue of strange decisions by denying Mark Stallard a 77th minute penalty when he was clearly felled inside the box - but was only awarded a free kick just outside.

Rovers, who dominated, took the lead in the 84th minute when £2 million-rated striker Barry Hayles capitalised on hesitancy in Blues' defence to fire under Martin Taylor.

Wycombe: Taylor, Cousins, Beeton, Ryan (Kavanagh 62), Vinnicombe (Bulman 92), Mohan, Carroll, Brown, Stallard, Read (McGavin 67), Emblem.

Attendance: 4,318

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.