Wycombe Wanderers 3, Rochdale 0.

TWO goals in the space of three second half minutes settled this crucial relegation battle in Wycombe Wanderers’ favour.

Top scorer Stuart Beavon added to his first half strike with a jaw-dropping volley to settle the nerves before the rock solid Dave Winfield bundled in from a corner to seal things.

With so much at stake, with both sides camped in the relegation zone, this game was far from a classic despite the scoreline suggesting a dominant Wanderers display.

But Wycombe won’t care about that, having brought an end to a losing run and finally kept a clean sheet.

In truth the visitors offered nothing going forward as an accomplished debut from Sunderland loanee Louis Laing cut out the balls that were lofted into the area on the rare occasions Rochdale managed a decent spell of possession.

He sprayed it around well on the deck as well and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet, with one 60 yard lung-bursting run leaving Dale unsure what to do with him.

Alongside him was the returning Winfield, who won everything in the air as veteran striker Brett Ormerod looked as mobile as a particularly lethargic wardrobe and his strike partner Daniel Bogdanovic was thoroughly disinterested throughout.

As well as looking toothless up front, Dale were unconvincing at the back early on as Wycombe managed a few sights at goal.

Keeper Peter Kurucz needed two goes to gather in Kadeem Harris’s deflected shot after it looped high into the air, before Blues’ new centre back partnership combined. Debutant Laing sent over a good cross that Winfield – who took possession of the captain’s armband on his return to the team – shinned woefully wide.

Top scorer Beavon had a couple of sniffs, firstly flicking on a corner that Brian Barry-Murphy smuggled away from the onrushing Ben Strevens just in the nick of time, before almost getting to a loose ball after Kurucz and Amankwaah both left it for each other to deal with.

A brief spell of Rochdale pressure around the edge of the box amounted to nought as they failed to take advantage of Wanderers’ Achilles heel, defending corners, as twice Blues were competently able to deal with them.

It fell to Matt Bloomfield to be the first to test the opposing keeper as Kevin Amankwaah’s attempted pass ricocheted off the midfielder and into Strevens’ path. He laid it back to Bloomfield, whose drive from outside the area was turned over by Kurucz.

Chances were at a premium and the longer the game went on, the more you sensed either a mistake or a moment of genius would turn the tide.

As it was, a less than impressive piece of defending from the hapless Amankwaah let Wycombe in for the opening goal. Strevens flicked on and Beavon managed to muscle Amankwaah off a ball the defender should have made his own, although the Blues striker still had plenty to do as he held off the former Swansea man before coolly lobbing the ball over the advancing keeper.

The first half highlights reel was one of the shortest pieces of film ever produced as home goalkeeper Nikki Bull was a spectator throughout, as evidenced by Dale skipper Gary Jones firing well wide from the only good shooting position the visitors managed to open up.

They at least managed to improve as Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro’s shot cannoned away and Amankwaah was just unable to get onto the end of the resulting corner.

But the Wanderers defence held firm, although there were the by-now traditional heart in mouth moments when dealing with corners as Bull flapped at a couple of them.

A second goal was needed to settle the nerves that were starting to show around the ground and in one decent spell of possession Bloomfield and Stuart Lewis both had efforts blocked. A swift counter attack saw Rochdale drive straight through the heart of the Wanderers midfield, and the home side were relieved that Jason Kennedy blasted wildly off target.

Manager Chris Beech made a double change in a bid to turn around his side’s fortunes, hooking off the anonymous Bogdanovic and Barry-Murphy for Ashley Grimes – who scored when the sides met at Spotland in October – and Nicky Adams.

Grimes was almost in straight away but was blocked by a combination of Grant Basey and Danny Foster, who produced his best display in weeks with a string of brilliant blocks and tackles.

Then Wanderers scored twice in next to no time to seal the win.

Firstly an absolutely stunning goal from Beavon made the game safe as a Dennis Bergkampesque first touch from a lofted pass set himself, then with the second he slammed the ball into the roof of the net to send relief coursing around Adams Park.

Two minutes later the tie was settled. Kurucz came and flapped at a cross like the Birdman of Alcatraz, missed the ball completely and let Winfield in to bundle home to get the party started.

There were 80 minutes on the clock when Bull was finally required to make a save and it was a good one, as he got down low to turn away Ormerod’s shot on the turn to preserve only the second clean sheet Wanderers have kept all season.

Winger Harris was desperate to get his first goal in a Blues shirt and he was unlucky when Kurucz shovelled his shot away, before teenager Jesse Kewley-Graham was given a first team debut after replacing match winner Beavon in injury time.

Wanderers: Bull, Foster, Winfield, Laing, Basey, Harris, Lewis, Bloomfield, Grant (sub Ainsworth), Strevens, Beavon (sub Kewley-Graham). Substitutes not used: Rendell, McCoy, Stewart.

Attendance: 4,285