New manager Kieran McKenna’s first game in charge of the Blues ended in a 1-0 victory via James Norwood’s third goal in his last three games. The striker pounced to net from close range a minute before half-time with sub Conor Chaplin coming close to making it 2-0 when he hit the post in the dying seconds.

Vaclav Hladky returned in goal for Christian Walton as McKenna named an otherwise unchanged team.

Walton was absent from the 18 and understood to have had Covid with Tomas Holy on the bench. Hladky was making his first league appearance since the Cambridge match at the start of October.

Town, who arrived at Portman Road together on a coach, lined up in a 3-4-3 system as opposed to the 3-5-2 employed against Sunderland 11 days ago.

Luke Woolfenden was in the middle of the three centre-halves with George Edmundson on the left and Janoi Donacien the right.

Wes Burns and Matt Penney continued as the wing-backs with skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans in central midfield with Macauley Bonne the central striker with Norwood to his left and Sone Aluko the right.

For Wycombe, manager Gareth Ainsworth was absent having tested positive for Covid with assistant manager Richard Dobson and player-coach Matt Bloomfield, who is from Felixstowe and started his career with the Blues, taking charge from the dugout.

The Chairboys’ line-up included ex-Blues loanee David Stockdale, while former Town youngster Adam Przybek is the sub keeper.

New boss McKenna was introduced to the 26,456-strong crowd and given a standing ovation as he made his way to the dugout before the teams came out separately, Wycombe first, then the Blues. Meanwhile, new Town head of analysis, Charlie Turnbull, made his way to the camera gantry.

The sides took a knee to warm applause from the large Portman Road crowd before the game got under way with the Blues in control of the early stages.

Skipper Morsy struck the first shot of the McKenna era, looping an effort over from just outside the box after being teed-up by Burns after the Welshman had been unable to find space for a strike of his own.

Morsy was shown the game’s first yellow card in the ninth minute, a caution which looked a little harsh despite his challenge on Anthony Stewart having been a foul.

Penney joined his captain in the book on 11 after felling Jason McCarthy as the Wycombe wing-back broke into the area on the right chasing Sam Vokes’s flick. McCarthy fell well inside the area but referee Samuel Barrott deemed the foul to have taken place outside the box, which looked correct.

Chairboys fans called for a red card but it was difficult to see how the incident could have been viewed as an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Visitors’ skipper Joe Jacobson curled his free-kick into the wall.

There was another scare for the Blues two minutes later when Woolfenden just about managed to take the ball away from Brandon Hanlan on the edge of the box from another Vokes flick.

Despite those two incidents, it was still mainly Town and in the 17th minute they thought they’d gone ahead.

Burns fed Aluko on his right and the Nigerian international powered over a low ball which Bonne, without a goal in his previous nine games, tapped in at the far post only to see a linesman flag raised for offside.

Bonne thought his wait for a goal had come to an end again two minutes later when Morsy played wide to Burns, who sent over a cross which the striker powerfully headed towards goal only for Stockdale to bat it away.

In the 22nd minute, Morsy threaded in Bonne on the left of the box but Jacobson took the ball away from him. Norwood smashed the loose ball into the net from distance but with the linesman having indicated that Bonne had been offside.

A minute later, Hladky punched a ball nervously when under no pressure, before the ball was played back into the area and Chris Forino headed well wide.

From the goal-kick, Town almost played themselves into trouble but referee Barrott awarded a free-kick to the Blues for a David Wheeler foul on Evans inside the box.

Town were well on top with Wycombe camped inside their own area for lengthy periods. Centre-halves Donacien, Edmundson and Woolfenden had all made forays forward from the back, at times leaving their side a little short on numbers defensively.

The Blues were passing the ball around and keeping it for long spells but without being able to find a way through the Chairboys’ massed backline.

On 27 a Donacien run from the back ended with the defender hitting a rare shot from a tight angle which was blocked.

Just before the half-hour, Hladky required attention after colliding with Edmundson as the defender cut out a low cross from the left following a Wycombe break but was OK to continue.

Wycombe saw more of the ball for a short spell, Curtis Thompson volleying well into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand after a corner had been cleared, then on 34 Norwood brought it in from the left before scraping a shot through to Stockdale, who was given little trouble.

On 43 Norwood reacted angrily to what he claimed was an elbow from Stewart and both players were spoken to by the referee before an Evans free-kick into the box was hooked away.

There was no doubt that Town had been the better side and a minute later they finally scored the first goal of the McKenna era.

Donacien sent a throw into the box to Bonne’s feet, the striker laid it off to Morsy, who scuffed a shot across the face as he broke towards goal, which Stockdale could only palm to Norwood, who couldn’t help but divert over the line from a few feet out.

The striker’s third goal in three league games was celebrated by virtually the entire Town team in front of an ecstatic Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

There was time for Penney to send a dangerous ball across the Wycombe area before the half-time whistle was greeted by applause and cheers with the Blues in possession in the Chairboys’ half and pushing for a second goal.

Town could be very happy with their first 45 minutes under their new boss. They had been on the front foot, had passed the ball around confidently, with their central defenders joining in the attacks, and looked for openings as the visitors retreated into the box, finally taking their opportunity through Norwood in the dying moments of the period.

Aside from a couple of moments of Blues hesitancy and miscommunication at the back, the Chairboys had hardly threatened.

Five minutes after the restart, Norwood out-battled Stewart for a bouncing ball a third of the way into the visitors’ half and Bonne chased it into the area before hitting a weak shot across the face and wide.

Hladky did well to punch from under his bar under a lot of pressure from a Wycombe free-kick in the 54th minute as the Chairboys threatened for the first time since the break.

Wycombe called for Morsy to be shown a second yellow card in the 58th minute when the Town captain sought to clear but caught Wheeler, who he hadn’t appeared to see running on to the ball. Despite vociferous protests in front of his face and some scuffling between the players, referee Barrott was content to just give a free-kick.

On the hour, Penney returned a corner from the right which had been cleared to Evans, who passed to Woolfenden in space on the edge of the box but the centre-half’s first touch let him down when he looked to have a good opportunity of a shot at goal.

A minute later, Evans’s excellent cross-field ball played in Norwood on the left of the area but the striker was unable to get a clean shot on it as it bounced and he was under pressure and his shot went the wrong side of the post.

For the first time Wycombe began to see more of the ball, but in the 69th minute, Aluko, again among Town’s top performers, sent Burns away and the Welshman played in Bonne as the striker made a run towards the right.

The on-loan QPR man steered the ball away from the advancing Stockdale and went to ground as they collided but referee Barrott waved away the Blues’ protests, probably correctly.

Wycombe swapped Thompson for Josh Scowen and Wheeler for Anis Mehmeti on 70 and might have levelled a minute later when Garath McCleary teed-up Hanlan inside the box from where the former Gillingham striker worked himself space before shooting well over. Hanlan will feel he should have done better.

In the 72nd minute, Town switched Aluko, who was given a big ovation by the Blues support as he left the pitch, for Chaplin.

Wycombe continued to take the game to the Blues, who were by now rarely pushing into the Chairboys’ half.

On 75, a Mehmeti shot from the right of the box looked to take two deflections before flying past Hladky’s right post. Following the resultant corner, which Hladky confidently punched well away from goal, Jacobson scuffed well wide.

Norwood made way for Tom Carroll in the 80th minute, the goalscorer receiving warm applause as he made his way to the touchline, then Wycombe brought on their talisman Adebayo Akinfenwa for Forino.

Portman Road was becoming a little nervy but the tension was relieved a little in the 8th minute when Bonne’s ball into the box was diverted over and out for a corner by Stewart. Bonne headed the flag-kick across goal but Morsy was penalised for a foul as he sought to knock it back to corner-taker Evans.

Wycombe should have equalised in the 88th minute. With Hladky being man-handled and unable to get off his line - as was the case with Walton for the Chairboys’ goal at Adams Park - the Blues were unable to clear McCarthy’s corner from the left and it reached Stewart, who shot over when it looked far easier to hit the target.

Bonne made way for Joe Pigott and was applauded off, having put in an all-action display despite taking his goal drought to 10 matches.

Scowen was booked for a foul on Chaplin as the game moved into five minutes of additional time, then Pigott joined him for kicking the ball away as Wycombe looked to take a free-kick.

Deep in injury time, a Blues clearance almost saw Burns and Chaplin away on goal with no Wycombe defenders to beat but Stockdale cleared.

Town came within a whisker of making it 2-0 moments later when Morsy made his way through a number of tackles and into the area before laying the ball to Chaplin to his left, whose shot across the keeper hit the post.

Burns took the conservative option with the loose ball of taking it into the corner and soon after, the final whistle confirmed a first three points in senior management for McKenna to loud cheers from the Portman Road faithful.

Town had deserved the win overall, but the second half was at times a more rearguard effort, although in the end the Blues could have won more comfortably.

The win, confirming Town’s first double of the season, sees the Blues stay 11th, 10 points off the Chairboys in the final play-off place ahead of Saturday’s home game against Lincoln, which is in doubt due to Covid cases at Sincil Bank.

Town: Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burns, Aluko (Chaplin 72), Evans, Morsy (c), Penney, Norwood (Carroll 80), Bonne. Unused: Holy, Nsiala, Fraser, Jackson, Pigott.

Wycombe: Stockdale, Jacobson (c), Stewart, Wheeler (Mehmeti 70), Thompson (Wheeler 70), Vokes, McCleary, Hanlan, Obita, McCarthy, Forino (Akinfenwa 81). Unused: Przybek, Grimmer, Horgan, De Barr. Referee: Sam Barrott (West Riding). Att: 26,456 (Wycombe: 634).

Photo: Action Images

dirtydingusmagee added 08:13 - Dec 30 whilst not a great game,it was a decent improvement in performance and effort. Deserved the win,even though scoreline wasnt so convincing . As i said recently all strikers have a lean spell ,but its hard to see how Bonne has gone from a goal machine to his present form, not being able to hit a barn door with a banjo. Hopefully he will get that monkey off his back soon . Pleased Kieron Mc Kenna has got off to a winning start ,must be a relief to him. The up and coming fixtures should set us on a decent run hopefully. No expectations for this season to be honest, to reach the playoffs would be nothing short of a miracle imo, but Red Bull said they needed one ,and look what happened. Lets just upset a few other teams plans and see where we get to . coyb

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aloanagain added 08:45 - Dec 30 Good tidy win. The funniest thing about the game was the Wycombe players moaning to the referee about time wasting 🤣. They have been doing that for years. Ho Ho Ho
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Orraman added 11:30 - Dec 30 Surging runs from Edmundson, Woolfenden and Donacien were reminiscent of those by Kevin Beattie and Titus Bramble back in the good old days. Not quite their level yet but certainly a tactic which will pose problems for opposition. Also good to see the return to form of Woolfie and Norwood after being sidelined by previous management. Not classic football last night but great atmosphere, excitement and result

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Linkboy13 added 12:52 - Dec 30 Dont know if you were at the game TimmyH but we had 59% of the game to Wycombe's 41% so saying Wycombe had more of the territory is rubbish. Some people are never happy on here i thought it was the best team performance of the season Wycombe hardly threatened our goal. McKenna has done in ten days what Cook couldn't do in nine months get us playing like a solid unit. Yes i went to Wycombe and there was some very good individual performances but we always looked like we could concede goals. Last night we looked like a team. It's important to have partnership's when building a team last night we had Bonne and Norwood, Morsy and Evans. the most impressive being Edmundson and Wolfenden who at last showed the form we saw when he made his debut in the championship. Whether we can carry this on a consistent basis is another matter. But bearing in mind McKenna has hardly worked with the team things are looking very promising. If we win the rest of our games one nil i shall be delighted unfortunately some on here won't be COYB.

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dirtydingusmagee added 13:28 - Dec 30 on a darker note, i really think Morsy will be more of a liability than an asset, Cook bigged him up, but he is nothing special and seems to be a ticking bomb with bookings .
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Linkboy13 added 17:21 - Dec 30 dirtydingusmagee expect Morsy to be dropped then your having a laugh he's quality. Sometimes i wonder if people actually watch the game or just go for a pie.
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