Wanderers are promoted after beating Southend

WYCOMBE WANDERERS are climbing the Football League ladder again; after doing much of the hard work at Bury last weekend Gary Waddock's team held their nerve at Adams Park this afternoon to secure promotion to League One with a final day victory over Southend.

In front of 8,567 fans, Scott Donnelly, Ben Strevens and Scott Rendell scored the goals in a 3-1 win over Southend that means Blues end the season with their noses in front of fast-finishing Shrewsbury in the race for the third and final automatic promotion place.

It wasn't as straightforward as that though.

Blues began hesitantly and were a goal down after a painfully edgy opening quarter-hour, but once they ran the nerves out their legs they steamrollered Southend and could have won by more.

The final 20 minutes was a celebration with the first ole's breaking out after 71 minutes, and although the club warned against it beforehand surely no one would begrudge the pitch invasion that followed full time - after the agonising wait on results elsewhere the last time Blues were promoted, going up with such a flourish deserved it.

With a one point lead over the Shrews at kick-off, Blues just needed to match their result against Oxford to avoid sliding into the play-offs, but they kicked off like the team with everything to lose.

It's not like Southend were that much better than them in the opening 15 minutes, but the home team looked nervous and conceded plenty of possession and territory to their guests.

Frequently the midfield withdrew to a line just in front of the back four and in front of them Southend moved the ball about under little pressure.

Ryan Hall down the right was a constant out ball for them it was his shot after two minutes that deflected just inches wide with Nikki Bull beaten.

From the corner Blues' hearts were in their mouths again as Bilel Mohsni headed goalwards from six yards. Bull got a hand to it, tipping the ball onto the bar and over, but it wasn't convincing stuff and memories stirred of two years ago – when Wanderers lost 2-1 to Notts County on the final day and needed goal difference to go up.

That day Blues were beaten despite taking the lead.

This time though it was the other way around and with 15 minutes gone the Chairboys paid for their early trepidation by going a goal down.

Symmetry demanded that it could only be former Wanderer Anthony Grant scoring for Southend and he duly stepped up, firing home from just inside the area to send Blues fans into all kinds of turmoil.

With Shrewsbury still goalless, Wanderers were suddenly down in fourth and facing the prospect of a two-legged tie against either Stevenage, Gillingham or Torquay.

More worryingly, Waddock's men weren't playing like a team about to catch fire and scorch past Southend, and two minutes after Grant's goal they could have found themselves 2-0 down when Hall shot low to Bull's left.

It looked a routine save for the keeper tipped to win Blues' Player of the Season award, but Bull lumbered to get down and only just managed to shuffle the ball past the post for another corner.

At that stage, no one in the ground would have predicted what happened next, but two Wycombe goals out of nothing came in the next eight minutes and from a position of despair the hosts were suddenly in a position of strength.

Donnelly got the first after 19 minutes, receiving Stuart Lewis' pass 15 yards from goal before spinning on a dime to shoot past Glenn Morris in the Shrimpers' goal.

Adams Park erupted with a mixture of joy and relief, and three corners of the ground were still celebrating when Strevens made it 2-1 just seven minutes later.

Again it was an attack down the right that led to the goal, but this time full back Danny Foster lobbed a ball into the danger area that Morris, under pressure from Kevin Betsy, spilled into Strevens' path.

From inside the six-yard box, he could hardly miss and suddenly League One was so close the players could almost touch it.

Donnelly came closest to extending the lead before the break with another skidding shot from 20 yards, but for Blues it was an awkward balancing act between chasing a third and risking an equaliser and 2-1 it was at half time.

They were close to a third though in a swashbuckling start to the second half.

First Donnelly again sent a low shot just the wrong side of the post then the best move of game nearly put it on a plate for Strevens after Betsy and Gareth Ainsworth worked it well on the right.

In the end the striker was just an inch from connecting with Ainsworth's deadly cross, but it didn't matter a jot and barely a minute later it was 3-1 thanks to top-scorer Scott Rendell.

Donnelly was instrumental as he chased down a short back pass, and when the ball broke to Rendell with just Morris to beat there was only going to be one outcome.

With a two-goal cushion, news that Shrewsbury had just gone in front at Oxford was shrugged off by jubilant home fan as Waddock's name rang around the ground.

All Blues had to do from there was keep their composure, and they did it comfortably.

Playing on the front foot almost until the 90th minute, Donnelly fired dangerously close to the angle, Rendell hit Morris' legs when his 20th of the season was staring him in the face and Betsy too was denied by the Southend keeper when one on one. But by then it was just semantics.

Southend were a beaten team long before the end and going up on the final day is one thing, but going up in style, with the crowd roaring and the players strutting and tension replaced by exuberance is something else entirely.

However, if there is a cautionary tale to be told today it's that Blues are only back where they were two years ago.

Then, reaching League One was hailed as a stepping stone by the club. It didn't turn out that way and if Wanderers are going to realise the ambitions of owner Steve Hayes – who has invested plenty of time and money and will need to find more of both - then the hard work starts again as soon as the champagne loses its fizz.