SIMON GARNER spoiled the party as Town played their first match at their new home.
Wycombe were the Second Division (now League I) visitors to what was then the McAlpine Stadium.
And Town fans in a 13,334 crowd, buoyed by the previous week’s 4-1 opening-day win at Blackpool, were full of expectation.
They left impressed by the new surroundings – at that stage only the two touchline side stands were complete – but disappointed by the result.
After a 100-strong team worked through the night to prepare for the opening, Neil Warnock’s side had their chances.
But the weight of expectation on the club’s big day after leaving Leeds Road, their home for 86 years, eventually proved too much.
They were over-anxious when it mattered most and finished the game with only 10 men after the late dismissal of centre-back Pat Scully for two bookable fouls.
Town were also a man down at the time of Garner’s well-struck 41st-minute goal, because midfielder Darren Bullock was having treatment.
The defence backed off, allowing the former Blackburn man a couple of crucial yards to angle in a 20-yard left-foot drive.
Town had made all the early running and looked to have the dominant threat with the inventive forward play of Ronnie Jepson, pictured.
But the Wycombe goal knocked them out of their stride, and in the second half, centre-backs Terry Evans and Glynn Creaser dealt with what came their way.
The ball just didn’t run for Town, and even when the likes of Simon Baldry, Paul Reid and Tom Cowan got around the outside, service into the box was dreadful.
Jepson tried his best to drag Town into the mode which had destroyed Blackpool with some clever runs and touches, but the end product was nil.
Wycombe, well organised and smart in midfield, played the counter-attack to perfection, and could have gone ahead earlier than they did, with Garner bringing a good save from Steve Francis.
Town’s closest chances came midway through the second half, but keeper Paul Hyde was equal to efforts from Andy Booth and Jepson.
Town chairman Terry Fisher said: “It was a great day for the club but I’m bitterly disappointed we didn’t play better.
“It was a great chance to win over some of the floating supporters.
“When you want to get to a higher division, you have to cope with big occasions like this.”
Town: Francis, Billy, Cowan, Starbuck, Scully, Mitchell, Baldry (Dunn, 62mins), Bullock, Booth, Jepson, Reid. Subs not used: Dyson, Blackwell.
Wycombe:Hyde, Cousins, Brown, Creaser, Evans Ryan, Carroll, Thompson, Regis, Garner (Hemmings, 86mins), Stapleton. Subs not used: Turnbull, Moussaddik.
