Paul Hayes says he relished the chance to step up and score the 102nd minute penalty which gave Wanderers victory against Exeter on Tuesday night and sparked jubilant scenes at Adams Park.

The stadium fell eerily silent, fully aware of the implications it could have on Blues’ hopes of automatic promotion, before the Wanderers captain buried his seventh spot kick of the season with the last kick of the game.

Hayes’ goal was the latest in any Football League game this campaign and ensured the Chairboys maintained a four point lead over fourth place Bury.

“The stakes were high with it literally being the last kick of the game but I’ve been in situations before when the pressure is on and you’ve got to produce,” said the Wycombe captain.

“It was a hard fought game and, for it to be the last kick of the game to seal the three points, it was a must win game with Bury and Southend winning.

“It was a tense moment but something which I relished because those are the sorts of games you want to be part of and hopefully change the situation, which it did.”

Wanderers looked dead on their feet as they toiled in the second half and were seemingly destined to drop two points before Aaron Pierre was shoved in the box by Tom Nichols in the dying seconds.

Hayes has won five previous promotions during an impressive career but the 31-year-old admitted that he hadn’t experienced a league game to go on for as long as Tuesday night’s epic.

Hayes said: “You play in play-off finals where you have extra-time and penalties and that’s pressure and tiring at the end.

“To play that long in a normal game was obviously nail biting stuff for fans and people that weren’t on the pitch, but the players were fully focussed and believed that we had one more chance to get a goal, which we did.”

Manager Gareth Ainsworth said the atmosphere at the final whistle was something he would “definitely savour in the memory” and the Blues boss believes that will be the case for everyone inside the ground. “That atmosphere was just awesome with the fans at the end, the silence just before the penalty, the emotion running through the place was really special and that’s why you come to football,” he said.

“It’s why you support teams for moments like that because they’ll live in the memory for years and years to come. People will remember the night they were there when we got rid of that Tuesday night jinx and when Hayesy scored with the last kick of the game.”

Wanderers occupy the final automatic promotion spot with three games left this season, and Ainsworth feels the team’s success has galvanised the town into supporting their local football team again on the back of a tough season last term.

He said: “It looks like it’s going to go right to the wire – as always with Wycombe Wanderers and there’s always something to play for which is great.

“The emotion is fantastic around Wycombe at the moment and the town is really buzzing around the football team again.

“That’s success for me already and we can build on that in the next three games and hopefully we will do that. To put Wycombe back, in footballing terms, is great and everyone should be proud of that.”