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WREXHAM FAIL AT THE RACES ONCE MORE

By Mark Williams

Pre-match thoughts: With just a point and a place out of the play off positions and with two games at home on the spin it would be important to start off with a win against a team in the relegation zone.

Conditions: Sunny and windy in the first half; rainy, windy and cold in the second.

Tactics: Usual 3-5-2 but little options on the bench to change to a plan B. Denis Smith went for the same team that won on the last league outing at Brentford two weeks ago.

Sum up the performance in one sentence: A lot of effort but the final ball was lacking and this resulted in little cutting edge.

Turning point: Jim Whitley hitting the bar with five minutes left – there was no way back for Stockport from then.

Main incidents and goals:

0-15 minutes: Wrexham started with a good tempo and both teams looked busy around each area but unfortunately these early positive signs turned out to be a false dawn. It was not surprising that Stockport came with a counter attack game plan and this ploy resulted in the first chance of the match. Wrexham were attacking with Carlos Edwards down the right and he was dispossessed on the edge of the Stockport area and the visitors quickly moved the ball up field. This resulted in Andy Welsh getting beyond Carey and Roberts into the box but Andy Dibble, who was playing against one of his many former clubs, was out quick to smother the ball at the feet of the striker. Wrexham first note worthy chance of the match came from a corner that Darren Ferguson swung in well that Rickie Lambert cleared off the line before a Wrexham player could get a touch onto the ball. A few minutes later if was Chris Armstrong who went close when his shot form outside the area called Anthony Williams into action for the first time and he turned the ball away for a corner. Score 0-0 with the opening stages even.

15-30 minutes: County should have taken the lead just before the twenty minute mark when Dennis Lawrence missed his clearance and the ball broke to Aaron Abraham on the right. With no Wrexham defender covering he crossed the ball into the centre that Carey did well to cut out. The ball rebounded back to Wilbraham and with Carey and Lawrence hesitating to close him down he was able to pick out Fraser McLachlan who got ahead of Steve Roberts but he directed his shot from twelve yards over without troubling Dibble. Richard Lambert hit a twenty yard shot deep into the Kop and at the other end Steve Thomas did not do much better with his shot from just outside of the area. Wrexham were finding it difficult to brake down the Stockport defence that was well marshalled by debutant Dave Walton and it was County who went close again to opening the scoring. Brian Carey was penalised for a foul on Richard Lambert on the edge of the area and Andy Dibble lined up a three man wall of Darren Ferguson, Chris Llewellyn and Carlos Edwards. At the time I was surprised that Llewellyn was in the wall as he is not the bravest of players and it was no surprise either when Danny Griffin bent his shot at the wall Llewellyn ducked and he must have been relieved to see Dibble turn the ball onto the near post and out for a corner. Score 0-0 but County had the best chances to open the scoring.

30-45 minutes: Wrexham were still struggling to create chances for the front two and it was not helped with Carlos and Paul Edwards playing too deep. You can get away with it if the midfield were breaking forward but with this not happening the support for Armstrong to Llewellyn was at times not existent. When either of the Edwards’ got down the wings Wrexham looked dangerous and with the half entering the last five minutes Paul Edwards forced a corner. Darren Ferguson swung the ball in from the left and it looked perfect for Dennis Lawrence but he got under the ball and it looped over the bar although some areas of the ground thought it went in. The last chance of the half fell to the visitors when they linked up well up front. Brian Carey missed his challenge on the edge of the area and this allowed Aaron Wilbraham through on Dibble but the keeper was quick off his line to turn the ball away for a corner with his feet. Half time 0-0 with both teams evenly matched.

What's more annoying is that we have dropped far too many points to teams who are at the bottom of the league.

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45-60 minutes: With the wind now in Wrexham’s favour the Red Dragons were first on the attack and were awarded a free kick midway into Stockport’s half on the right. Darren Ferguson swung in the cross but this was caught by the wind and almost embarrassed Anthony Williams who misjudged the flight but the keeper was lucky it was off target and the ball bounced behind for a goal kick. Steve Roberts dragged a shot wide from twenty five yards and Chris Llewellyn capitalised on a slip by Lee Cartwright and his run to the edge of the area resulted in a right foot shot but this was straight into the arms of a grateful Anthony Williams. Score 0-0 with Wrexham starting to have shots on goal.

60-75 minutes: Darren Ferguson had more influence on the second half as he was playing up with the front two providing the link between midfield that was missing in the first half. With Stockport playing a high line you would have expected Wrexham to play balls over the top but on too many occasions it was too the feet of Armstrong and Llewellyn and it wasn’t long before either player was crowded out. With twenty minutes left Hector Sam replaced Steve Thomas to add some variety to the attack but it was Dennis Lawrence who went the closest after he made the opening for himself with a twenty yard mazy run but his final shot lacked any power and Williams dived low to his left to make a routine save. Score 0-0 with Wrexham in control if not threatening.

75-90 minutes: With the extra striker on the pitch this gave Wrexham more options up front. Carlos Edwards did well cutting in from the right across the edge of the area but instead of squaring the ball to Hector Sam who was free inside the area, he decided to take on a shot that was too weak and Williams gathered without any difficulty. Sam fired a shot straight at Williams and then Roberts blasted a free kick over that was laid off to him well over before Jim Whitley came the closest to breaking the dead lock. The midfielder picked up the ball on the left touchline and skipped past a couple of players before firing over a dipping shot across the face of goal that had Williams beaten but not the crossbar as the ball rebounded of the woodwork. Stockport failed to clear the danger as Carlos Edwards returned the ball into the penalty area with interest. A Stockport defender only managed to flick the ball goal wards in the air and Williams lost the ball under the challenge from Armstrong. The striker then missed the ball with an overhead kick and Danny Jackman managed to clear the ball just before the Ferguson made contact with it at the near post. In injury time Lawrence got ahead of the defence but his chest down to Armstrong was cleared by Dave Walton before the ball reached the striker. Final Score 0-0 and honours even.

Opposition and fans: Only 800 made the trip from south Manchester and their team looked a lot more organised since the teams last met on Boxing Day. Despite having the better of the chances they lacked any cutting edge and it was surprising tat Stuart Barlow was not introduced late on.

Officials: Lee Mason had an average of four yellow cards before the match and boosted this by issuing six cards in total. His decisions in the second half were totally random and he lived up to his reputation of being a card happy official.

Man of the match: Jim Whitley as he was busy all afternoon and worked hard in defence and attack. Was unlucky to see his shot hit the bar.

If you were Denis Smith: Would not be too disappointed as it keeps the run going and maintains the position just outside the play off positions.

Post match thoughts: Another game against a team in the bottom three where we have failed to break them down. The biggest worry is that there is no plan B when plan A fails to work. With two matches in succession at home it was important to get off to a winning start as it adds more pressure to the Barnsley match next week, which is now a six-pointer.

Jump To: Match Stats, Match Report, Detailed Match Reports, Other Match Reports, Audio Reports and Quotes, Press Conference Quotes, Division 2 Results, League Table.

BBCi: Wrexham 0 Stockport County 0 - Minute-by-minute

Denis Smith: "Teams are not going to come here and try to play us at football, because it can cost them dear. Stockport are a much improved side, even from when we played them on Boxing Day, and Sammy has brought in some good players to help their cause. I have had to spend much of the week trying to tell people that this was going to be a much bigger test than many thought it was going to be. The two centre halves didn’t play against us six weeks ago and they both had good games today. What we did need was that little bit of luck and we just didn’t get it! A deflection, a mistake in defence, in fact anything to just help us to get our noses in front. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened and we have had to settle for a 0-0 draw. For the sake of the fans, I dearly want us to improve our home form, but at least we didn’t lose and there was another cleansheet for Andy Dibble, his 11th in the league this season! There is still a long way to go in this campaign and we aim to be in their fighting all the way." [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Results

Barnsley

Nardiello 56'

Hayward 80'

Lumsdon Sent Off 45'

2-2

Hartlepool United

Williams 27'

Tinkler 67'

9,220

Bristol City

Miller 4'

Hill 88'

Lita 90'

3-1

Brentford

Hutchinson 77'

13,029

Luton Town

Showunmi 52'

1-0

Colchester United

5,662

Oldham Athletic

v

Grimsby Town

SUN

15:00

Peterborough United

0-2

Chesterfield

Hurst 47;

McMaster 77'

5,446

Plymouth Argyle

Worron missed penalty 84'

0-0

Bournemouth

13,371

Port Vale

Littlejohn 42'

McPhee 72'

Brooker 90'

3-0

Sheffield Wednesday

Proudlock Sent Off 49'

7,058

Queens Park Rangers

Mcleod 54'

Thorpe 69'

Furlong 83'

3-2

Notts County

Parkinson 66'

Richardson 90'

14,412

Swindon Town

Mooney 9'

Gurney 17' (p)

Duke 76'

Hunter 90' (og)

4-2

Rushden & Diamonds

Reeves 53' (og)

Jack 77'

7,023

Tranmere Rovers

Hume 74'

1-1

Blackpool

Taylor 36'

7,919

Wrexham

0-0

Stockport County

5,046

Wycombe Wanderers

Tyson 45'

1-1

Brighton & Hove Albion

Benjamin 34'

6,567

League Table