Barnet 1, Wycombe Wanderers 3.

WANDERERS survived a scare before coming from behind to seal a place in the second round of the FA Cup against a Barnet side who finished with nine men.

The final scoreline may suggest a comfortable passage into the next stage of the competition but this match – played in the shadow of the Wembley arch where the final will be played – was a stern test for the League Two leaders.

It was a tale of contrasting fortunes for the two former Wanderers loanees in the Barnet side, as the strong-as-an-ox John Akinde bullied the out-of-position Sido Jombati with the menacing power that made him a cult hero in helping Blues to promotion in 2008 and opened the scoring.

The rampaging Akinde threatened to score again on more than one occasion and opened gaps up for a string of his team mates, who were left frustrated by the goalkeeping heroics of Matt Ingram.

Then in first half stoppage time came a game changing moment as the second former Blues loanee, Sam Togwell, was sent off for a bad foul on Matt Bloomfield as Barnet were reduced to ten men.

By that stage Wanderers had managed to claw their way back into the contest courtesy of a coolly converted penalty from skipper Paul Hayes, and the combination of goal, red card and now having the teeth of a howling gale at their backs looked to have swung things back in Wycombe’s favour.

And in the second half that proved to be the case as they pulled themselves clear of the Conference leaders courtesy of goals from Aaron Pierre and Sam Wood, before Andy Yiadom was also dismissed as the game entered injury time to confirm Wanderers' place in the next round.

That outcome from a feisty and frenetic cup tie was one that looked unlikely before kick off as Blues were forced into changing their defence for the first time all season, with Alfie Mawson being denied permission to play by his parent club Brentford – while Rotherham also forbade manager Gareth Ainsworth from selecting Danny Rowe, the other loan player at his disposal.

Their enforced withdrawals and injuries to other players meant Blues were only able to name five substitutes, as Ainsworth also handed recalls to Max Kretzschmar and Matt McClure.

Mawson has been imperious in defence for Wanderers all season and his absence was underlined with just two minutes played as the reshuffled Blues defence was caught out. Another man who at one time impressed while at Adams Park on a temporary basis, Akinde, took advantage of the visitors failing to step up quickly enough as he broke the offside trap, rounded the helpless Ingram with consummate ease and calmly rolled the ball into the net to put the Conference leaders in front.

With a strong wind at their backs the hosts set about their high flying opponents and Charlie MacDonald’s shot took a nick before bouncing narrowly wide, before Blues struggled to clear their lines from the resulting corner and were relieved to see Luisma Villa’s stinging effort rise over the crossbar.

Once more the offside trap failed to click into life but this time Ingram came out on top, making a crucial stop with his foot as Curtis Weston this time swept through. Wanderers broke straight from that attack and got out their own half for the first time all afternoon, and almost drew level as the recalled McClure saw his effort blocked on the line by a combination of David Stephens and Yiadom.

It was only a moment of brief respite however as Ingram had to come out of his area to head clear from Akinde, before again making a good save low down to keep out MacDonald as Wood’s undercooked backpass left him badly exposed.

Usually in a cup upset any goalkeeping heroics come from the lower league side’s custodian but it was Ingram who was excelling as he made an acrobatic tip over from Lee Cook’s swirling free kick before he prevented the ensuing corner by Togwell from sneaking in at the near post.

An overhead kick from Villa – once more left onside with ridiculous ease – flashed wide before in a rare Blues attack McClure chipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Graham Stack before being taken out in mid air, but referee Oliver Langford waved play on.

The official was less charitable when McClure danced his way into the Barnet area on the half hour before being upended by Yiadom, with Langford pointing straight to the penalty spot. Hayes made the most of the let-off Wanderers had been handed as he calmly slotted it right into the bottom corner, beyond the despairing grasp of Stack.

And with parity restored in terms of scoreline, Wanderers were given a numerical advantage on the stroke of half time as Togwell rashly lunged in at Bloomfield and was shown a straight red card.

Barnet responded by taking MacDonald off at the break and replacing him with an extra midfielder in David Hunt to shore things up.

As expected Wanderers looked to make early inroads at the start of the second half as McClure’s shot was blocked and Jombati – who, to his credit, had stuck gamely to his task of trying to contain Akinde – had a delightful backheeled effort headed clear by Stephens.

Stack was then called upon to make his first save as he leapt to claw over McClure’s thumping drive and Hayes steered a header from Wood’s cross wide of the post as Blues stepped things up.

And eventually they managed to edge their noses in front as Pierre powered his way past the defence to send a header from Joe Jacobson’s corner crashing emphatically into the net.

Back came Barnet and Akinde as his low skidding effort was clutched by Ingram before giant defender Bondz N’Gala had a powerful header of his own from a corner chalked off for an infringement.

A biblical monsoon then came along to add to the fun but Barnet continued to have chances despite having a weather and numerical disadvantage, as substitute Bernard Mensah didn’t get enough on his effort to worry Ingram.

Wanderers were able to make the game comfortable with quarter of an hour to go as McClure timed his run perfectly from Jombati’s hoik clear out of defence and broke clear. His chip cleared the exposed Stack but was drifting wide of the upright until Wood came charging in to tap home a third goal from a matter of inches.

With the result confirmed, frustration boiled over as the game entered stoppage time and Yiadom became the second Bee to fly back to the dressing room early as he ploughed into Scowen while making little effort to play the ball.

Wanderers: Ingram, Scowen, Jombati, Pierre, Jacobson, Bloomfield (sub Lewis), Murphy, Kretzschmar, Wood, McClure (sub Ephraim), Hayes (sub Cowan-Hall). Substitutes not used: Richardson, Craig.

Attendance: 2,410