Mooney’s effort wins the battle of the Wanderers

He scored the only goal of the game with defelections off the post and Wolves defender Joleon Lescott to give John Gorman's side a morale-boosting scalp over Glenn Hoddle's Championship side to that of League one outfit Oldham.

And while the game lacked the excitement and the goals of the Chelsea game just 48 hours earlier, Gorman was just as pleased with the exercise but for very different reasons.

He was delighted with the way his side soaked up the pressure as Wolves bossed the proceedings in an embarrassingly one-sided first half which was all Wolves.

But for all the Midlanders' possession, Wycombe held firm and largely restricted Wolves to long-range efforts which the magnificent Frank Talia dealt with superbly.

Gorman said: "In the first half we were very flat and struggled to play in their half but the boys did very well for us because they stopped Wolves from scoring.

"Wolves had so much possession but they couldn't create clear-cut chances against us. It was all shots from distance. We never let them get behind us and I was very pleased with that."

Wanderers were so over-run in the first half that Matt Bloomfield blew himself out after just 35 minutes and had to be replaced by Kevin Betsy as he ran out of puff chasing shadows in a midfield that made little impact as Wolves passed the ball around them at will.

Up front, Wanderers strikers Tommy Mooney and Charlie Griffin were becoming increasingly frustrated as the ball rarely found its way to them as Ian Stonebridge and Rob Lee struggled in the heat against Wolves' constant movement.

Indeed it took Wycombe until the 43rd minute to register a shot in anger when Stefan Oakes' drive moved one way and then the other before rising just over the top.

It was a rare moment of respite for a Wycombe side who had spent the entire opening half on the back foot.

Vio Ganea should have put Wolves ahead inside the first 20 minutes after he stole the ball off defender Roger Johnson, but luckily for Wycombe he did not show the same appetite for challenging Talia when he rushed from his line to deal with the situation.

Talia was Wycombe's first half saviour.

He twice kept out long-range efforts from livewire Korean Seol Ki-Hyeon and then denied Leon Clarke with an unbelieavable save after the Wolves man rose at the back post to meet Rohan Ricketts' cross after the former Tottenham man had cut inside Kevin Betsy as though he wasn't there."

It looked a goal all the way but somehow Talia reacted to flip his body up in the air and push the ball over the bar from close range.

That was to be Talia's last action of the game as he was replaced by Steve Williams at half time.

Willo was one of four half time changes as Gorman brought on big guns Nathan Tyson, Joe Burnell and Clint Easton at half time.

Easton came on at left back for disappointing triallist Andy Myers who was clearly still struggling with his achilles injury.

Gorman said: "Andy wanted to play but he was not being fair to himself because he has still got the injury."

The boss also brought on Joe Burnell to replace the tiring Rob Lee, who was playing his first pre-season game, while Tyson came on for Charlie Griffin in attack.

And the changes took just three minutes to pay off as Wycombe took a 48th minute lead.

Stefan Oakes' corner was only half-cleared and quick-as-a-flash, on the edge of the box, Mooney brought the ball down and fired it through a thicket of players into the back of the net via deflections off the post and Lescott.

Wycombe looked a different side and it could have been two moments later.

Ian Stonebridge injected some pace into a lovely passing movement, clipping the ball down the line for Tyson but his shot was dealt with by Michael Oakes.

Danny Senda, who was again Wycombe's best performer, was also denied by Oakes late on after a cracking run and shot while Wycombe's Stefan Oakes went close with a 30-yard daisy-cutter which zipped just wide.

But Wolves continued to threaten from distance, but just like talia had been in the first half, Williams was equal to everything they could throw at him.

Wycombe: Talia (Williams 46), Senda, Oakes (Martin 76), Johnson, Williamson, Bloomfield (Betsy 35), Mooney, Dixon 68, Stonebridge (Anya 83), Griffin (Tyson 46), Lee (Burnell 46), Myers (Easton 46).

Scorer: Mooney 48 Wolves: Oakes, McNamara (Clingan 69), Craddock, Lescott, Naylor, Kennedy, Davies (Little 69), Ricketts, Ganea (Gobhern 54), Ki-Hyeon (Cornes 83), Clarke.

Attendance: 1,606 (Wolves 297).

Wycombe 1, Wolves 0