ALL the misery of the Christmas football can be forgotten as The Blues take the maximum points available so far during 2003.

I know this is their only game so far this year but it was the in-form Bristol City who came to Adams Park not with the attitude of 'will we win or not?', but with the attitude of 'by how many will we win?'

With the injury of Ijah Anderson, who has now returned to Brentford, Lawrie Sanchez changed to a back five this afternoon and without a dubious second-half penalty it could have been a Wycombe clean sheet.

Paul McCarthy was dropped to the bench and Keith Ryan and Danny Senda played as wingbacks with Roger Johnson and Andy Thomson joining Mark Rogers in the middle.

Senda was excellent with having some of the defensive duties lifted from his shoulders but Ryan had to cope with million pound man, Scott Murray, on the left and was left for dead on many occasions.

In front of the goal packed with away supporters, the home team started very well. Craig Falconbridge headed over and Steve Brown had a couple of attempts on goal that went wide of the target.

The City defence looked a little shaky and Jonny Dixon's pace was a constant worry. The thrill for me though was the battle between Senda and Mickey Bell. Our youngster kept the ex-Wycombe player where he belongs, in the full back position.

The heavy rain and soggy pitch was never going to be conducive for a pretty football game and there were several scary sliding tackles. Dixon was booked on 17 minutes but similar challenges on Brown went unpunished by the ref.

Bristol's first goal attempt came on 23 minutes when Liam Rosenior tried to chip the ball over Frank Talia without getting sufficient height. Frank has signed another monthly contract and should demand a hike in his wages after another superb performance.

In the games against QPR and Luton, we conceded goals in the first half and performed better in the second. Luckily that habit only related to 2002 and this year sees us starting a better habit. It was a close thing though. In the closing minutes of the first half Murray got goal side of Ryan and forced a great save from Talia.

Minutes later Bell did the same on the other wing to Senda but his shot flew across the pitch for a Wycombe throw in.

Deep into injury time Murray was causing more havoc but Talia was on hand to save Ryan's blushes.

Three minutes into the second half Wycombe took the lead. Michael Simpson curled in a corner from the left and Roger Johnson headed the ball in at the back post. The resultant celebration matched his nickname, ie magic. He ran to the side of the pitch and performed the David Brent dance from The Office.

The goal spurred on the visitors but Wycombe withstood the additional pressure. This forced Danny Wilson to make a number of substitutions. On 58 minutes Liam Rosenior was replaced by Christian Roberts.

After 66 minutes, Dixon raced to meet a hopeful punt forward and his pace turned a 70/30 ball into a 50/50. Danny Coles seemed happy to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick but the referee deemed he was pushing Dixon and a penalty was awarded. Brown stepped up, did the Ian Rush "stop" during his run up and slotted it past the keeper to his left. I think his was the DJ Mixer celebration. Well someone's got to play the music for Johnson to dance to.

The last 20 minutes was all pressure from Bristol and very nervous moments for the home fans. Bell was allowed to venture much further forward and this is always very dangerous. Murray was causing problems again for poor Ryan. With 12 minutes remaining, Coles met a Brian Tinnion cross but headed over when he really should have hit the target.

To even things up nicely, the ref awarded a penalty to Bristol on 85 minutes after the ball was fired against Ryan's arm. Tinnion converted to make the score 2-1. It was a nailbiting last few minutes but resulted in a worthy, and well needed, three points for the Blues.

By the way, the name Sean Devine was not mentioned all afternoon. A football crowd are an awfully fickle bunch.

Wycombe Man of the Match - Steve Brown

WYCOMBE LINE UP

Talia, Ryan (c), Johnson, Rogers, Thomson, Senda, Brown, Simpson, Bulman, Faulconbridge, Dixon

SUBSTITUTIONS

89 Craig Faulconbridge off for Richard Harris

SUBS NOT USED

Paul McCarthy, Darren Currie, Stuart Roberts, Lewis Cook

BRISTOL CITY

Phillips, Bell, Hill, Butler, Coles, Tinnion, Brown, Doherty (c) , Murray, Peacock, Rosenior.

SUBSTITUTIONS

58 Liam Rosenior off for Christian Roberts

72 Aaron Brown off for Peter Beadle

84 Christian Roberts off for Louis Carey

SUBS NOT USED

Mike Stowell, Clayton Fortune

GOALS

48 Roger Johnson - Wycombe, 66 Steve Brown (Pen) - Wycombe, 85 Brian Tinnion (Pen) - Bristol City

YELLOW CARDS

17 Jonny Dixon - Wycombe, 39 Steve Brown - Wycombe, 69 Andy Thomson - Wycombe, 75 Tommy Doherty - Bristol, 85 Dannie Bulman - Wycombe

ATTENDANCE 6785 (1849 away supporters)