Pools were dismal in defeat at Adams Park as Wycombe Wanderers kept alive their hopes of staying in League One while keeping Chris Turner's men in the mix near the bottom of the table.

The home side were good value for the three points and the only surprise was that they did not make the most of the chances they created, particularly in a one-sided second half.

Goals from former Pools loan man Jon-Paul Pittman and substitute Matt Phillips were enough to condemn Turner's off-colour side to defeat though they remain four points clear of the drop zone.

A lively start bore no clue as to what was to come, as Leon McSweeney drove forward menacingly in the opening seconds only to see his shot deflected wide.

Wanderers responded with the first of over a dozen corners from the right, from which Chris Westwood could have nodded home before Lewis Montrose sent a rising volley over the bar.

Another familiar face for Pools fans was Kevin Betsy, employed on the left wing but cropping up in the box to head the next effort on goal but it was easy for Scott Flinders.

Neil Austin had to be at his bravest after Ben Clark had been caught in possession on the left of the Pools area by Alex Revell whose low cross found Pittman on the slide only for Austin to heroically block on the edge of the six-yard box.

Pools also had Joe Gamble to thank who got back in the nick of time to pick the pocket of Matt Bloomfield as the Wanderers midfielder prepared to let fly inside the area.

Chris Turner's side were ready for the half time whistle but they almost snatched an interval lead against the run of play when Gamble's deep corner was headed just over by Andy Monkhouse at the back post.

However, the second period belonged to the hosts and Pools will leave feeling fortunate Wanderers helped themselves only to the two goals.

Substitute Lewis Hunt smashed a header against the post from another dangerous Craig Woodman corner kick, while Betsy flashed one across the goal after drifting in to space on the left.

The pressure kept on building for Gary Waddock's men and the breakthrough finally came on 66 minutes when a deep cross fell kindly at the far post for Pittman to prod home from close range.

And the former Nottingham Forest front man could have scored again minutes later when he outdid Clark but this time he drilled an effort across goal and wide.

Alex Revell raced forward to beat Flinders to a long ball and despite being forced wide decided to clip a looping effort at the unguarded goal which kissed the crossbar on its way wide.

And when Pittman was only player interested in chasing his own flick-on he got the better of Flinders as the Pools keeper looked to watch the ball out but thankfully he drilled his effort just over the target.

A rare foray forward for Pools presented Andy Monkhouse with a good chance to restore parity when he was found in space by substitute Antony Sweeney. But the Pools winger wanted too much time and was crowded out before he could get a shot away.

With only two minutes left Wanderers made the points safe when they broke quickly on the counter to feed Phillips down the right, who sold Ben Clark with a step-over before driving inside to drill past the badly-exposed Flinders.

A forgettable afternoon for Pools but one they get a chance to recover from quickly when they host already-relegated Stockport County at Victoria Park on Tuesday.

Full Time: Wycombe Wanderers 2 Pools 0

Wycombe Wanderers: Heaton, Woodman, Bloomfield, Revell, Pittman (Phillips 80), Montrose, Mousinho, Westwood, Betsy, Ainsworth, Hinshelwood (Hunt 18).
Subs not used: Arnold, Keates, Harrold, Beavon, McLeod.

Pools: Flinders, Austin, Collins, Clark, Haslam, Monkhouse, Gamble (Sweeney 68), Humphreys, McSweeney (Larkin 80), Bjornsson (Brown 59), O'Donovan.
Subs not used: Cook, Hartley, Power, Boyd.

Bookings: Mousinho (Wycombe)

Attendance: 4,342