Bury 2, Wycombe 2.

WANDERERS chucked away a two-goal lead as their promotion bid received another massive dent.

After blowing up at home to the bottom club Mansfield, Blues did it again conceding an 86th minute equaliser to Bryan Barry Murphy's free kick.

First half goals from Sergio Torres and Scott McGleish, with a penalty, put Wanderers firmly in the driving seat.

But they had to withstand some serious pressure in the second half as Bury bombarded them with set pieces - and they failed.

The hosts cut the deficit with Andy Bishop's 64th minute penalty after Russell Martin handled and then Murphy's free kick punished another handball, this time by skipper David McCracken just outside the box.

It was an astonishing turnaround as Wanderers looked to be coasting towards their fifth away win in six trips in the first half as boss Paul Lambert dropped striker John Sutton after his run of eight goalless games and abandoned his 3-5-2 system which was clinically exposed by Mansfield.

That meant a return to an international-style midfield for Gary Holt after his unhappy flirtation with a centre back role against The Stags when he got caught the wrong side of his man and conceded a penalty.

The ex-Scotland international joined Northern Ireland old boys Neil Lennon and Tommy Doherty in a powerful midfield decorated by the flair of Argentinian Sergio Torres.

Holt, Wycombe and Lennon looked much more comfortable with the inspirational Holt covering every blade of grass.

He created the game's first chance crossing from the right, Leon Knight was out-jumped as he went for the header but the ball bounced invitingly for McGleish who ballooned a chance he would normally gobble up over the crossbar.

Wycombe only had to wait four more minutes to get their noses in front though with Torres putting the final touch to an excellent team goal which began in Wanderers' own half of the field.

Lennon showed clever feet midway inside his own half to set the move going and when Doherty chipped his pass through to Torres the Argentinian did the rest holding off the challenge of a defender to fire past keeper Darren Randolph who left the gap on his near post totally unguarded.

Wycombe looked like they could score at will and Knight should have added to their tally when he poked a bouncing through ball past Randolph but could not do the rest.

Wanderers were toying with Bury at times and Torres was denied a second when his long range daisy cutter was gathered by the diving Randolph.

The overdue second goal arrived on 38 minutes.

Leon Knight was chopped by Steve Haslam in the box and McGleish, who missed his last penalty, made no mistake this time to double Blues' advantage.

Two nil was the least Wycombe deserved for their first half dominance.

Russell Martin almost made it three with a free kick which bent just the wrong side of the Bury post at the start of the second period before it all started to go wrong.

Dave Challinor's booming long throws always looked like being Bury's best weapon and with him being able to hit the penalty spot from anywhere on the touchline, and dead ball specialist Brain Barry-Murphy coming on before the hour, Wanderers wanted the insurance of a third goal.

The Shakers were literally handed a lifeline on 64 minutes when Glyn Hurst's header hit Russell Martin on the arm and Andy Bishop squeezed the resultant penalty past Frank Fielding.

Bury sensed blood and the set-piece bombardment continued with Wycombe conceding more corners and throw-ins to be healthy.

Somebody had to steady the ship but with Doherty having been replaced by Matt Bloomfield on the hour Wycombe needed someone else to step forward and take the lead.

With volunteers slow coming forward, boss Lambert decided to give the hosts a fresh problem to think about introducing Sutton for Knight.

But it was McGleish with a header and then Sergio Torres with an outrageous chip with his hind leg that the keeper had to tip away, who went closest to providing a third goal to kill the contest.

But when that didn't come Wanderers were always vulnerable and Barry Murphy emphasised that with his stunning late blow to leave Wycombe on their knees.