Wycombe Wanderers 2, Oldham Athletic 2.

A LAST minute penalty denied Wanderers a crucial victory as they missed the chance to move to within a point of safety.

Blues had not long missed a spot kick of their own, with Grant Basey sending his penalty wide of the target, when Marvin McCoy dragged down Robbie Simpson in the area in the last minute of normal time.

Simpson himself took the kick and stopped Oldham's losing run, just as Joel Grant looked like he had won the game for Blues.

The winger hadn’t played in two months but scored a sublime solo goal as Wanderers came from behind to take the lead.

They fell behind early on before top scorer Stuart Beavon dragged them level, and with results elsewhere going Wanderers’ way they could have cut the gap to the safety net to just a single point.

Instead they were left to rue the chance missed by Basey, which would surely have wrapped things up.

It was Simpson who blazed the game’s first opening way off target before the Latics struck first blood with quarter of an hour gone. No one bothered to track the run of Felipe Morais after he won the ball just inside the Wanderers half, and the former Chelsea midfielder ran and ran with it before slamming past Bull into the bottom corner.

It was the first time Oldham had scored in more than eight hours as they looked to end a run of five defeats on the trot and nine losses in eleven overall.

As an attacking unit Wanderers never got going and the visiting defence was able to repel any attempted through ball without having to break sweat.

Struggling Oldham weren’t that much better when it came to carving out openings and they had to rely on a set piece to test Bull, making his 100th consecutive appearance for the club, as he tipped away a free-kick from Simpson.

In fact it was to be half an hour before Wanderers finally managed to worry the visiting defence as fine wing play by Anthony McNamee allowed him to get clear and float over a cross that Stuart Lewis couldn’t quite put away after it clipped the post on its way into his path.

But despite the dearth of openings Wanderers were able to draw level. Stand-in keeper Dean Bouzanis hesitated in coming out for Ben Strevens’ superbly weighted pass and Beavon pounced on his lapse in concentration as he nicked the ball off him before calmly rolling home his first goal in four games.

In the build up to the goal however Dave Winfield, who had taken the captain’s armband after being recalled to the side, picked up an injury and was forced off and replaced by Leon Johnson.

Oldham thought they had gone back in front in injury time when veteran striker Shefki Kuqi fired home from close range but he was flagged offside by the linesman.

And in the opening minutes of the second half Wanderers had the same number of goalscoring chances as they managed in the whole of the first period as Beavon spun and drew a smart save from Bouzanis before strike partner Strevens had the follow-up blocked by James Tarkowski at the expense of a corner.

Tarkowski came close to making a contribution at the other end of the field as he headed just wide from a free-kick, before Wanderers immediately countered and Beavon scuffed his shot at the keeper after beating his man.

The game was finally starting to look like it was going to open up as Morais again tested Bull low at his near post before Blues boss Gary Waddock opted to bring on Joel Grant for his first appearance since February as he searched for a winner.

They nearly managed to get their noses in front as Johnson met a Matt Bloomfield free kick but his shot was too close to the keeper, who was able to clutch the ball at the second attempt.

Then Gary Doherty glanced a header narrowly wide from a corner that had been won thanks to another fantastic through ball from Strevens that fed Craig Eastmond, whose attempted pass was put behind.

Bouzanis then made an excellent low stop from Basey’s curling free kick from the edge of the area before tipping away the corner that followed just as it looked like Doherty was going to head home.

And Blues continued to pile on the pressure as Latics skipper Dean Furman made a fantastic last ditch sliding tackle to shut the door on Lewis just as the midfielder looked set to make it two goals in two games at Adams Park.

Finally the goal came. Strevens flicked the ball into Grant’s path but the winger still had plenty to do as he shuffled his way past a couple of defenders before his crisp finish into the bottom corner gave Bouzanis no chance whatsoever.

Minutes later Grant combined with Bloomfield and slid the ball through to Eastmond, who was brought down by Bradley Diallo for a penalty. Basey stepped up to take it but fluffed his lines, sending it wide of the corner Bouzanis was diving towards.

Oldham went on the attack and substitute Harry Bunn had a shot blocked with his first touch, before Furman pulled the rebound straight into Bull’s gloves.

Then McCoy pulled Simpson over in the 90th minute for the second spot kick of the game, with the fouled striker stepping up to take it himself and sent Bull the wrong way from the spot.

Wanderers: Bull, McCoy, Winfield (sub Johnson), Doherty, Basey, Eastmond, Lewis, Bloomfield, McNamee (sub Grant), Beavon, Strevens. Substitutes not used: Foster, Ainsworth, McClure.

Attendance: 5,109