Fancy dress, a big day for Jack Holmes and yet more defensive lapses ... the story of Wycombe Wanderers 3 Rotherham United 2

Someone on an inflatable horse rode up the steps in the away end and squeezed into the throng.

Bananas were everywhere. Not far from the clowns and the Australian in the cork hat was St George while Princess Leia was also in attendance.

It was Rotherham United fancy-dress day at Wycombe Wanderers on the final afternoon of the Millers' League One campaign and 364 hardy souls had made their way to Adams Park in Buckinghamshire determined to enjoy some laughs at the end of a relegation campaign that has brought so few of them.

They were in high spirits. “We're gonna win the league,” they chanted when the visitors led for a brief spell, nearly three weeks after the drop was confirmed.

Sadly, it didn't last. By Saturday teatime, late heartache had brought a 25th loss in 46 outings and a finishing position of 23rd spot, 11 points shy of safety.

Not only was it the final game of 2025/26, it was also the last fixture of Lee Clark's nine-match occupation of the hot-seat.

Will the short-term boss be staying on? It seems that your guess is as good as his, and plenty has been written about that in other articles.

“I thought the team played some excellent stuff with the ball,” the Geordie said as he analysed a helter-skelter opening period that brought four goals and a less exciting second one that brought only Wycombe's winner.

“Our Achilles heel has been what it's been this season - defensively, we haven't been doing enough to win enough matches, And when I say 'defensively', that's not just pointing fingers at defenders, it's talking about the whole group.

“You have to defend as a group from the front all the way through. Over the course of the season, we haven't been good enough at doing that part of the game.”

There was disruption before kick-off when Denzel Hall made his hamstring excuses and absented himself from the matchday 18.

Then, just past the half-hour mark, those players who'd made it on to the pitch had to stand in concern for 10 minutes when a Rotherham supporter was taken ill and fans from both clubs alerted the emergency services and called out for the contest to be halted.

Happily, the supporter, given the all-clear to head home, is back in Rotherham and showing no adverse effects.

By the time of that drama, the scoreline was already 2-2. The Millers had gone behind, levelled, got themselves in front and then been pegged back in the space of 14 hectic minutes.

The fans made for a colourful sight. Wrestler John Cena was urging on the men in red and white, a gaggle of sheiks watched proceedings with interest and Peaky Blinders were out in force.

Talking of blinders, Jack Holmes was playing one in that first half.

Brought in from the wing and given a central role behind the main striker, the attacker delivered the best display of his two-year spell since being plucked from the non-league waters of the Southern League Premier Division Central.

After Taylor Allen had opened the scoring, a shake and a shimmy from Holmes gave him a clear sight of goal and the finish from outside the area was as precise as it was powerful.

It had taken him 56 games to break his duck in professional football and yet his second goal arrived only seven minutes later as he ghosted in to apply a neat cushioned volley and give Harry Gray's lovely flighted delivery the outcome it deserved.

“The first one was great, and the second one was even better from my point of view, because Jack was getting in the danger zone,” said Clark. “It's the ‘POMO’ position at the back post when the ball's coming in from the opposite flank - the position of maximum opportunity.

“He took his goals really well. I thought he was really bright in the game. We need to get him to complete 90 minutes more, have the same intensity for longer, but that's been an issue with the squad all season.”

Wanderers were almost instantly level as holes open up in Rotherham rearguard - not the first time or the last - and Bradley Fink bustled through them for an equaliser.

Maybe the manager has been influenced by the attire of the travelling faithful because, during a drink break, he made a beeline for centre-half Zak Jules and went, well, bananas.

In the second period, the Millers rode their luck and were helped out by goalkeeper Ted Cann who wasn't blameless for mid-table Wycombe's first two goals but came to his side's rescue on several occasions.

The clock ticked into stoppage time and a creditable point was within grasp. Then came the 91st minute and, suddenly, the fancy-dress fun and laughs of earlier counted for nothing as the home team bagged a winner.

Clark thought there was a foul on Joe Rafferty in the build-up. Whatever, 16-year-old Micah Olabiyi, who'd come on 13 minutes previously for his league debut, was soon finding the bottom corner with the outside of his right boot.

“Yeah, absolutely it's harsh,” the boss said. “The players deserved something from the game. I'm totally frustrated for them.”

The sun had shone for much of the afternoon but gradually dark clouds blocked its view and then came the rain that grew more and more persistent. By the final whistle it was, just like the Millers this term, falling heavily.

All three goals had been poor ones to concede. The story of the day, the story of the campaign.

Clark was thinking again about how his men have been breached too often, too easily on their way to the fourth tier.

“I've taken a lot of positives from the game,” he said. “I'm seeing improvements in our attacking play, I'm seeing improvements in us keeping possession.

“But, obviously, the big issue that's not allowed us to pick up enough points and wins is what's been glaringly there all season - the defensive side of the game.”

If only Rotherham had been a bit more like that away-end Aussie and been able to put a few more corks in one of the division's leakiest backlines.

Wycombe (3-4-1-2): Mikki Van Sas; Declan Skura, Connor Taylor (Jack Matton 69), Daniel Harvie; Junior Quitirna (Micah Olabiyi 78), Josh Scowen, Ewan Henderson (Aaron Morley 59); Jamie Mullins, Taylor Allen (Mohamed Abdoulaye Keita 78), Fred Onyedinma (Andre Vidigal 69), Bradley Fink. Subs not used: Will Norris, Luke Leahy.

Rotherham (4-2-3-1): Ted Cann; Joe Rafferty (Jordan Hugill 90+2), Jamal Baptiste, Zak Jules, Reece James; Dan Gore, Dru Yearwood; Ar'Jany Martha (Josh Benson 69), Jack Holmes (James Clarke 90+2), Harry Gray; Sam Nombe. Subs not used: Ben Childs, Harrison Duncan, Brandon Cover, Cohen Lee.

Goals: Allen 11, Fink 25, Olabiyi 90+1 (Wycombe); Holmes 17, 23 (Rotherham)

Referee: Harrison Blair (Surrey)

Attendance: 5,568 (364)