WYCOMBE may have taken the three points from this game – but they will know that they didn’t deserve them.

Had the referee’s assistant patrolling Stanley’s half not clocked off a couple of minutes early, the Reds would have had at least a point.

On another day, they could have recorded their third win on the bounce and continued their assent up the table.

But, as it was, Chris Zebroski, grabbed a late winner despite looking so far offside he was in another postal district when the move started.

Stanley were yet another victim of the interpretation of the offside rule.

Zebroski looked to be well beyond the Stanley backline who pushed out as Scott Shearer went to clear down field.

Depending on what you decide is “active” and what phase the play was in remains a topic of debate.

But, with the position of the press box at Stanley we were almost in line with play and there’s no question that Zebroski was offside.

Unfortunately, the only people whose opinion that mattered allowed Zebroski to latch onto Shearer’s clearance, steal in on goal and flick the ball over Kenny Arthur.

And despite Kieran Charnock’s best efforts of trying to keep the ball out of the net, Zebroski was soon wheeling away in delight.

It was a cruel end to a very average game.

After wins against Luton and Shrewsbury, Stanley’s confidence will have been sky high and started with the same side began Tuesday’s win over Shrewsbury.

Wycombe sprung one surprise by including Mourinho in their midfield.

Unfortunately, the Inter Milan boss hadn’t decided to turn out for the play for the Chairboys it was just that someone had mis-spelled John Mousinho’s surname on the team-sheet.

But there was little else to brighten up the first half which matched the weather - dreary.

Wycombe, who came to the Fraser Eagle Stadium with an unbeaten record, had the better of the opening exchanges as they won the battle in the middle of the park.

They played pretty football up until the final third but their finishing wasn’t what you would expect of a team at the top.

Mousinho headed wide at the far post early on and then Simon Church, on loan from Reading, dragged poor shot wide as Wycombe threatened.

But as the half wore on, Stanley started to get a foothold in the game.

Paul Mullin sent a looping header wide on 28 minutes from John Miles’ cross and Rostyn Griffiths had a firmly struck shot deflected wide.

But neither goalkeeper had much to do in a limp first 45 minutes and the half-time whistle brought blessed relief to the 1,217 inside the ground.

The persistent drizzle did little to lift the spirits but Stanley’s start to the second half did.

John Coleman’s side began strongly and thought they had opened the scoring when Terry Gornell got a head on Miles’ corner and sent it goalward only from Gary Holt to hack it off the line.

Then Williams made a hash of a great opportunity when a well-worked Stanley move ended with a poor cross straight at Scott Shearer.

But it was a blunder at the other end that almost gifted the visitors the lead.

A cross into the Reds box was punched straight up into the air by Arthur and found Zebroski, who headed the ball towards the unguarded goal.

But the Stanley number one will have been delighted to see Edwards back on his own line to head the ball away.

But Arthur more than atoned for his error 13 minutes from the end when Matt Harrold somehow missed a sitter only for Williams to clear.

But as the ball was fed back in, Franck Moussa got in between the defenders and in a header powered a header but Arthur was on hand to tip the ball over the bar.

It provided the spark that the game needed so badly.

Griffiths lashed a shot wide before Wanderers sub Matt Phillips did the same at the other end.

Then Arthur produced a magnificent save to claw Harrold’s bullet header from sneaking under the bar after Magno Vieira’s cross from the right.

Stanley were again unlucky in the last minute as Wanderers struggled to clear Ryan’s corner but somehow scrambled the ball back to the Reds man.

His second cross found Gornell’s head but again the ball was cleared off the line, this time by Phillips.

And how costly it was to prove.

Just a minute later, a combination of a referee’s assistant, an unclear rule and a decent finish robbed Stanley of a point.

Wycombe’s players knew they had literally stolen the win and as they tucked into their post-match pizza and had a chuckle in their ice bath, or rather a great big tub filled up with ice and water outside the changing rooms, Coleman was left hot under the collar at the injustice his side had suffered.

Stanley had been more than a match for the leaders who made it 13 games without defeat this season, but that will have been of little comfort.