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SECOND HALF BREAKTHROUGH

By Mark Williams

Pre-match thoughts: After a free weekend time to get back into the news for football reasons rather than off field events.

Conditions: Sunny but crisp winter day.

Sum up the performance in one sentence: Persistent and effective if not spectacular.

Turning point: Brian Carey’s opening goal put the game beyond Peterborough as they did not look like scoring.

Main incidents and goals:

0-15 minutes: The game opened with Wrexham having the better of the opening stages and it was the home side who created the first chance of the match. Steve Thomas swung in a corner from the left only for keeper Mark Tyler to punch the ball back to him and Thomas fired in a return shot that hit the side netting. Lee Jones was next to test Tyler and the keeper did well to hold onto the striker’s second effort from the edge of the box. Despite Wrexham creating the early chances the best fell to the visitors following a mistake in the Wrexham defence. Richard Logan had the freedom of the Wrexham penalty area at the back post but Dibble came to Wrexham’s rescue again to deny the defender by first blocking his initial shot and then smothering the rebound. Score 0-0.

15-30 minutes: Peterborough caught the Wrexham defence exposed down the right. Brian Carey was pulled out of position to cover the whole and Andy Newton swung over a superb right footed cross that Dibble missed at the near post. With the goal wide open it looked a certain goal for the two Posh players at the far post but Carlos Edwards kept his head to turn the ball over for a corner from within the six yard box. Posh went close again with Steve Thompson's long range shot going trough a crowd of players but Dibble was in a perfect position to make a routine catch. Score 0-0.

30-45 minutes: Chances were now few and far between with both teams struggling to create anything from open play. Steve Thomas must have taken one of the worse corners I have ever scene when his cross from the left swung out of play before it reached the six yard box. When Thomas regained his sights he swung over a free kick that Llewellyn got his head to but could not direct his header down as the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar. Posh responded with Richard Logan heading Matthew Gill’s free kick narrowly wide. David Farrell then went on a run leaving two defenders trailing only for Brian Carey to head his centre clear. Thankfully there was only a minute of injury time to be played but this was still time for Gareth Jellyman to pick up a stupid booking for kicking the ball away after he had fouled Carlos Edwards. Half Time 0-0.

45-60 minutes: Wrexham started the second half unchanged and with a lot more urgency in their play. Despite this it was a bad back pass to Mark Tyler that created the first opportunity of the half for Wrexham. Tyler did well in the end to control the bouncing back pass whilst under pressure from Lee Jones and the visitors escaped with just conceding a throw in deep inside their own half. Chris Llewellyn linked up well with his strike partner Lee Jones to lay the ball off for Wrexham’s top scorer but Jones dragged his shot wide as the game remained goalless. It was then Lee Jones’ turn to provide the cross when he beat the Posh’s offside trap down the right. Personally I thought Jones should have taken the ball on to shoot but he laid it off across goal where Chris Llewellyn was beaten to the ball by a Posh defender. Score 0-0.

60-75 minutes: Carlos Edwards, who had a quiet game by his standards, broke down the right and his centre to Paul Barrett was struck goalwards by the midfielder but Farrell tracked back well and blocked the ball for a corner. Wrexham broke the deadlock in the sixty-seventh minute with captain for the day Brian Carey leading by example. Peterborough gave away for a needless free kick on the Wrexham left and Jim Whitley swung in the ball where Brian Carey rose above the defenders to loop a header over the despairing dive of Mark Tyler. Wrexham almost immediately let in the visitors for an equaliser when Dave Farrell broke down the left flank but Shan Pejic’s last ditch tackle denied a shot on goal as Wrexham’s lead remained intact. Score 1-0.

75-90 minutes: Hector Sam replaced Lee Jones up front with 20 minutes left and with virtually his first involvement in play he doubled Wrexham’s lead. Carlos Edwards played a through ball from his own half over the top of the defenders for Sam to latch onto. With the ball bouncing towards the penalty area, Sam beat Tyler to the ball to loop it over the keeper and into the net despite a Posh defender tracking back to prevent it from going in. This killed the game off as Posh lacked any creativity up front and Wrexham completed a good three points ahead of the festive period. Final Score 2-0.

Opposition and fans: Peterborough are similar to Wrexham in many respect as they have a small squad that struggles for consistency. The little number of fans were so spread out they were unable to make any noise.

Officials: Had a quiet game with no difficult decisions to be made.

Man of the match: Hard to disagree with the sponsors choice of Brian Carey although Shaun Pejic and Chris Llewellyn should be noted for their performances.

If you were Denis Smith: Well done with the clean sheet but why do I require some half time words to get you going.

Post match thoughts: Not the best of displays but at the end of the day the three points prove valuable. I cannot understand all the current doom and gloom surrounding Wrexham at the moment as the 31 points we have reached in 21 games took us 31 matches in the year we were relegated. If you look at our bench we had four teenagers to prove how limited our squad is at the moment. This makes our current position of only being two points off a play off spot even more remarkable.

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

Ananova: FT- Wrexham 2 Peterborough United 0

Denis Smith: “I don’t think what was happening in the first half will ever replace football! The second half was a lot better though and I think we deserved to win. Brian – besides his goal – played very well. I thought Chris Llewellyn was outstanding, except he just needs a goal. Paul Edwards defended tremendously well and I thought there were some very good performances all round. It’s hard to criticise Hector after he has scored, but he has had a spell in the team when he has played well and then followed that with a few indifferent games.  He does well when he comes on as a substitute, but I would prefer him to be doing that from the start. It’s not easy I know, but if you want to be in the side, you have to be performing consistently and he will get his chance again. The last few games have seen us gain two clean sheets – and we would have won our last home match but for missed a penalty. So this win puts everybody in a better frame of mind. I try to be positive at all times, if I have something to be positive about. Generally, besides Yeovil, we have played reasonable well for most of the season. In the first half it was a case of everybody blocking each other out. We then had the wind with us in the second half and we used that to get at them. I wasn’t very complementary to them at the break, but didn’t give them a blistering attack. I didn’t need to – enough people have had their say. What we did though after the interval was get at Peterborough, turn them, create a few chances and it was even frustrating that we didn’t score before we did. A clean sheet and a win made it an ideal day for me!” [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Results

Barnsley

Kay 26'

1-1

Sheffield Wednesday

N Dumbu-Nsungu 30'

20,438

13:00

Blackpool

0-1

Luton Town

Robinson 35'

5,739

Bournemouth

0-0

Grimsby Town

5,837

Brighton & Hove Albion

Knight 16' (p)

1-1

Port Vale

Littlejohn 50'

5,811

FRI

Chesterfield

Hurst 2'

Allott 45'

2-2

Tranmere Rovers

Dadi 1' 54'

3,123

Colchester United

Duguid 48'

Vine 72'

2-1

Oldham Athletic

Eyres 66'

2,897

Notts County

Hefferman 74'

1-1

Wycombe Wanderers

Simpson 45'

5,014

Queens Park Rangers

Gallen 27' 38'

Padula 34'

Ainsworth 50'

4-1

Hartlepool United

E Williams 71'

15,003

Rushden & Diamonds

Talbot 4'

1-1

Bristol City

Miller 71'

4,340

Stockport County

Barlow 82'

1-1

Brentford

Jackman 66' (og)

4,081

Swindon Town

Fallon 80'

Parkin 90'

2-3

Plymouth Argyle

Capaldi 13'

Norris 76'

Keith 90'

9,374

Wrexham

Carey 67'

Sam 76'

2-0

Peterborough United

3,035

League Table