Wycombe claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory at Reading in their League One clash thanks to a late penalty from Beryly Lubala.

After the scrappiest of openings, from both sides, Wycombe went ahead after 16 minutes in spectacular style through defender Nigel Lonwijk.

The centre-back, scoring a first goal for Wanderers, took advantage of slack home marking with a superb overhead kick.

Reading lacked any threat going forward and Wycombe could have doubled their lead before the break, only for Kieran Sadlier to blaze over from a Garath McCleary cross.

The hosts improved after the interval, with Tyler Bindon almost levelling when nodding against a post from a cross from substitute Charlie Savage.

Sam Smith was then denied by Wanderers keeper Franco Ravizzolo from a tight angle but did better later when rising to meet a Femi Azeez cross to head home his 10th goal of the season.

However, Lubala snatched the points for Wanderers in the 88th minute, converting from the spot after Reading defender Clinton Mola had clumsily felled Chem Campbell in the area.

Wycombe boss Matt Bloomfield blamed his side’s ill-discipline for their 4-2 loss to promotion-chasers Barnsley.

The Chairboys twice let a lead slip before substitute David Wheeler was sent off as the Reds completed a resounding comeback.

Dale Taylor and Kieran Sadlier twice put Wycombe ahead, only for Sam Cosgrove and Donovan Pines to respond each time before Corey O’Keeffe and Conor Grant secured the victory.

“Where was it lost? Slight lack of discipline, I think,” Bloomfield said. “There were a couple of soft goals that were entirely preventable from our side, so that feeds into it, and obviously the sending-off doesn’t help.

“I still fancied us at 3-2 down, but obviously with 10 men it’s tough.

“A few things contributed, maybe a slight bit of fatigue crept in with some of our decision-making at times defensively.

“I thought we started the game extremely well. For 30-35 minutes to play like we did against a team that’s looking to try and get up automatically, we have to be pleased with that, but we’re not pleased because we want to win the game.”

Taylor’s 16th-minute opener was cancelled out by an equaliser in first-half stoppage time from Cosgrove, who netted the rebound from a Luca Connell free-kick.

Sadlier then tapped home after good build-up play from Garath McCleary to restore the hosts’ lead, but only for four minutes.

Pines bundled the ball home before O’Keeffe put Barnsley into the lead for the first time with 65 minutes gone.

Wheeler saw red less than a minute after coming on for a heavy tackle on O’Keeffe and the Tykes made certain of their win with a thumping effort from Grant.

Barnsley boss Neill Collins said: “The resilience they’ve shown after going behind and then going behind again, to come back was fantastic.

“The quality of our play when we put it together caused Wycombe real problems. We created some really good moments and the quality of a couple of our goals was excellent.

“So I think overall, coming away from home against a team that’s made it really difficult for teams at home recently is all positive.

“I think we were the victims of our downfall with respect to the two goals we gave away and then when we did go 4-2 in the lead we contrived to give up two or three chances just from poor choices.

“But in the end we regrouped and saw it out pretty comfortably. There’s more positives than negatives of course.”

Barnsley won for the third game in a row as they beat 10-man Wycombe 4-2 at Adams Park.

Dale Taylor had put the Chairboys ahead before Sam Cosgrove equalised for the visitors.

Kieran Sadlier restored Wycombe’s lead, only for goals from Donovan Pines and Corey O’Keeffe to turn the game in Barnsley’s favour.

The hosts then saw David Wheeler sent off seconds after coming on, with Conor Grant thumping in a fourth.

Wycombe struck first when Taylor reacted quickest to a half-cleared cross and placed a first-time strike into Liam Roberts’ net.

But the visitors equalised in first-half stoppage time when Cosgrove scored the rebound after Luca Connell’s free-kick hit the crossbar.

Wycombe regained the lead just after half-time as Garath McCleary slid the ball back for Sadlier to tap home.

But the lead was brief as Pines bundled in a corner to equalise and the visitors then went ahead when O’Keeffe turned in a deflected cross.

Wheeler was sent off for a heavy tackle on O’Keeffe before substitute Grant slammed the ball home to complete the scoring.

A strong performance from goalkeeper Jamie Cumming helped Oxford consolidate their position in the League One play-off places as they earned a 0-0 draw at Wycombe.

The U’s are now three points clear of seventh-placed Stevenage in the table, although they rode their luck at times against a Chairboys side who missed out on a third league win in four matches.

Wycombe had the game’s first big chance after 12 minutes when Beryly Lubala’s ball over the top put Dale Taylor through but his shot was repelled by the foot of Cumming.

Just before the half-hour, the U’s stopper pushed out Kieran Sadlier’s cross before recovering quickly in keeping out another effort from Taylor.

The chances kept coming for the Chairboys and they should have been ahead in first-half stoppage time when Lubala somehow steered Sadlier’s ball across the six-yard box wide.

Oxford finally improved in the closing stages and came close to snatching a winner when captain Cameron Brannagan had a shot pushed around the post by Wycombe keeper Max Stryjek.

Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson backed goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic to learn from an error-strewn display in his side’s damaging 5-2 defeat at Wycombe.

Bilokapic, 21, was directly at fault for two of Wycombe’s goals, with Kieran Sadlier and David Wheeler both capitalising.

Ferguson mounted a passionate defence of his young goalkeeper and refused to criticise the Australian.

He said: “It was a tough day for the boy, he knows he’s made mistakes but I have to stick by him.

“I’m not coming here to criticise him, he needs my help. A big part of my job, especially with a squad with young players, is to stick by them.

“A lot of the criticism he’s got has been unjust, but that’s happened before at this club. There’s something about young goalkeepers fans don’t like but I have to stick by him.”

Posh fell behind through an own goal from Archie Collins and the hosts doubled their lead on the cusp of half-time through captain Jack Grimmer’s low finish.

Sadlier added a third before David Ajiboye and an own goal from Ryan Tafazolli threatened to turn the game on its head.

But the hosts held firm to score two more through substitutes Sam Vokes and Wheeler late on.

Ferguson added: “Sometimes it’s easy to play at 3-0 down, the pressure was off. But what I will say is that at least we had a bit of a goal for that short period.

“We had the momentum in the game and then we concede one more right after.

“It would knock any team and we kept huffing and puffing, we had one or two other opportunities to make it 4-3.

“You have to give credit to Wycombe, they were ruthless with the way they took their chances.”

Ferguson’s promotion-chasers have now lost three in a row, while his opposite number Matt Bloomfield was delighted after securing back-to-back wins which have taken his side six points clear of the bottom four.

Bloomfield said: “I told the boys before the game today that I have huge belief in them.

“I see what they do, I’ve seen the pain that they’ve been through at times this season.

“I’ve seen the moments that have gone against them, but that hasn’t altered my belief in the group and what we’re trying to achieve here.

“It means a great deal because we’ve had a tough time over the winter. It has been really important as leader of the group that I remain positive because I have massive faith in the group.

“I’ve been convinced there are good times around the corner, but obviously in testing moments it really stretches you.

“To enjoy a day at home in front of our supporters against an incredible team and celebrate five goals is lovely.”

Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield admits he is starting to sound like a broken record after his side once again failed to hold on for victory.

The Chairboys have now gone 10 games without a win in Sky Bet League One, but this was two points they allowed to slip through their fingers after failing to kill off a match they had dominated.

Vale had offered precious little before Ben Garitty’s 90th-minute header cancelled out Kieran Sadlier’s goal and the visitors were far happier with a point.

Bloomfield said: “Everyone is going to get sick of me, if they haven’t already, talking about stats and talking about performances (because) it’s about results.

“We are so, so close in every single game and we have to retain that belief because this cannot go on forever where you can keep being in games and keep getting in winning positions and it goes against you, or come out of games where the shots, the stats, everything is in your favour.

“We have to make sure those moments go in our favour to equal results.

“The way we counter-attacked, we could have had those moments and we didn’t, but we didn’t feel any threat at any point.

“It was a long ball just hooked into our box, we had enough bodies but we have to see those big moments out.”

Wycombe deservedly led after 51 minutes when Sadlier got on the end of Garath McCleary’s superb cross.

But the visitors snatched a draw late on when Garitty’s header from Baylee Dipepa’s cross was adjudged to have crossed the line before goalkeeper Max Stryjek got down to it.

Port Vale manager Andy Crosby said: “I think it’s a good point in the end.

“We came here after winning our last two games and we found it difficult to get territory in the first half because of the conditions.

“Obviously we were playing against the wind and they had us on the back foot and we had to defend our box.

“It was good that we got into half-time at 0-0 and we changed things a little bit.

“We want more end product, obviously, and in the first half the times we got into the final third our final ball let us down a little bit.

“Wycombe play a certain way and they probably deserved to be in front, but we kept going, we found a way, we made positive changes and we got the goal.”