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THAT WAS F@#KING AWFUL!

By Mark Williams

Pre-match thoughts: With the injury problems easing during the week I was looking for a positive response against a team second bottom in the league.

Conditions: Dry and cold.

Tactics: One change from Chesterfield with Steve Thomas back from suspension and replacing Jim Whitley in midfield.

Sum up the performance in one sentence: Poor passing, no effort, no points.

Turning point: Hector Sam going off injured with no subs left. Wrexham were starting to control the game and with no subs left the momentum was lost.

Main incidents and goals:

0-15 minutes: Notts County started the game with a high tempo and controlled the opening stages with Wrexham struggling to gain any decent possession in the County half. County should have had an early penalty when Dennis Lawrence clearly upended Mark Stallard in the box but the referee, who had a clear view of the incident, waived play on. County continued to press and they won a free kick on the Wrexham left. Darren Caskey swung the ball to the far post where Dennis Lawrence inexcusably headed the ball back across goal. Luckily the defence managed to put Andy Parkinson under pressure and the danger was adverted. Score 0-0.

15-30 minutes: Wrexham’s first chance of the match came when Notts County could only clear a corner to Paul Edwards on the left and he swung in a deep cross to the back post. Hector Sam had the time to direct his header but from just ten yards out he failed to find the target. Then a bad header back to Steve Mildenhall was missed by the keeper and ran out for a corner before he could retrieve it. The keeper redeemed himself when he claimed Ferguson’s outswinging corner at the first attempt. Brian Carey ended up in the book for a late challenge on Darren Caskey and could have easily have been shown a second yellow card five minutes later when he brought down Andy Parkinson who had gone outside him on the left. For the second challenge, Carey was exposed not for the first time following bad positional play from Craig Morgan. Score 0-0.

30-45 minutes: With 30 minutes gone Wrexham had a corner and a minute later they found themselves a goal behind as County broke quickly against them. Ferguson’s corner was swung in and Carey got a flick on at the near post and it looked a certain goal before David Pipe cleared the ball off the line. With the defenders still up field County broke quickly and a deep cross into the area was only partially cleared by Paul Edwards to Darren Caskey on the edge of the area. Caskey picked out debutant Andy Parkinson and he took the ball down before hitting a shot that looped over a flat footed Dibble. Although Dibble has saved Wrexham this season you have to start wondering about his positioning and reactions with the number of times the ball loops over him from close range. The best move of the match came from Wrexham with five minutes of the half remaining. Carlos Edwards played in Llewellyn on the edge of the area and his low shot on the turn looked destined for the bottom corner before Steve Mildenhall’s outstretched hand turned the ball away to safety. Carlos Edwards tried a long range drive in added time that Mildenhall held onto. After more mishaps in the Wrexham defence, Andy Dibble and Dennis Lawrence started arguing with each other and the incident almost ended up with punches thrown before both players walked away. This only increased frustration in the stands and the players went in a half time to a chorus of boos. Score 1-0 County.

Today’s performance was dire and totally unacceptable I honestly thought after last week we would have gone out today and not only get all the points but put in a good display.

Bish on the Red Passion Mesage board

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45-60 minutes: Denis Smith made three changes at half time with Steve Roberts, Jim Whitley and Chris Armstrong replacing Morgan, Barrett and Llewellyn. Although any of the starting eleven could not have complained if they were one of the players taken off. The change almost had an immediate impact as Wrexham should have been on level terms within a minute of a restart. Carlos Edwards was played in down the right and his deep cross was just missed by Armstrong at the far post. It looked as if  Armstrong's shirt was being pulled but if the referee never gave County a blatant penalty in the first half he certainly wasn't going to give Wrexham one as well. Paul Edwards picked up the lose ball and his cross was perfect for Sam who somehow put a free header over from within the six yard box. Moments later Andy Dibble had to deny Andy Parkinson after he had beaten Steve Roberts to the ball. The goal opened up for Parkinson and he tried to curl the ball around Dibble in the far post but the keeper spread his huge frame to keep Wrexham in the game. Hector Sam had a couple of chances before he went off injured. Chris Armstrong fed him a ball across the edge of the area and as Sam cut back in he dragged his left foot shot disappointingly wide especially when he should have laid it off to Steve Thomas who would have had a free shot at goal from within the area. The second chance came when Ferguson fed in Sam down the right side of the area with a quick free kick that Mildenhall rushed off his line to beat Sam to the ball. Sam never got up from this challenge and was stretched off with a deep cut that required stitches and the medical staff did not allow him back on even though he wanted to return to the action. That meant Wrexham had to play the final half hour with ten men after all subs were used at half time. Score 1-0 County.

60-75 minutes: With Wrexham now down to ten men they were struggling to keep any pressure on Notts County as they could not keep the ball in the opposition’s half for a sustained amount for time. Carlos Edwards was starting to enjoy himself down the right and County made a tactical change in the 72nd minute with Paul Riley coming on at the left back spot to try and cope with the Trinidadian. Wrexham had a glorious chance to equalise when Paul Edwards delivered a low cross from the left that Chris Armstrong stepped over for Steve Thomas who could not direct his first time shot down and the ball sailed over. Score 1-0 County.

75-90 minutes: The game was now really disjointed with Notts County running out of gas due to their high tempo start and Wrexham struggling with the ten men. Wrexham only had one decent chance to salvage a point and unsurprisingly this came from another set piece. Ferguson’s cross was only cleared back to him and the County keeper made a hash of Ferguson's second cross by punching the ball down. With Mildenhall still on the ground the ball bounced to Carey who could not direct his header goalwards and County escaped with a goal kick. Nothing happened in the five minuets of injury time as Wrexham fell to their third successive defeat against teams that are well below them in the table. Final Score 1-0 County.

Opposition and fans: The biggest surprise was that Wrexham only lost the game by a single goal and this probably reflects how poor County are as any team with quality would have won today by a three goal margin. Wrexham were that bad. There was about 200-300 fans who travelled from Nottingham but not much noise was generated.

Officials: I though the referee had a shocker but not as bad as Wrexham. How he never awarded a penalty to County in the opening stages was beyond me and he did not stamp his authority on the game when County were time wasting at the end.

Man of the match: Carlos Edwards was the sponsors choice and he was the only Wrexham player who came out of the game with any credit.

If you were Denis Smith: Be extremely disappointed after the clear the air meetings following the Chesterfield defeat last week. The last couple of displays will help him identify who of the current squad are not good enough for this division.

Post match thoughts: Annoyed after the final whistle and suicidal after having to relive the game with typing out this match report! Every part of the game was wrong:

• Passing – short and long – if we cannot pass the ball then we have no chance

• Shooting – cannot believe we had five shots on target

• Effort – was there any? – County over ran us in the first half and it is frightening what teams like Plymouth would do to us with a display like this

• Strikers – had no service but they look like players who will not go out to make any chances for themselves

• Midfield – were just over ran and never covered the defence

• Defence – were pulled out of position

• Goalkeeper – ball looped over Dibble again

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

BBCi: Wrexham 0 Notts County 1 - Minute-by-minute

Ananova: FT- Wrexham 0 Notts County 1

Denis Smith: "I wasn't happy with the first half" (RealPlayer Format courtesy of BBC Radio Wales)

Denis Smith: "I was not happy with the first-half display but we were better after the interval. We have had a couple of bad results and somehow we have go to turn it around. We are not sticking away our chances." [Source: Nationwide Football]

Results

Barnsley

Lumsdon 80'

1-1

Bournemouth

Hayter 31'

7,934

Bristol City

Doherty 44'

Lita 84'

Carey 86'

Goodfellow 89'

4-0

Chesterfield

11,807

Luton Town

Griffin 32' (og)

Howard 85'

Forbes Sent Off 38'

2-2

Stockport County

Lunch 18'

McLachlan 72'

5,920

Oldham Athletic

Vernon 17'

1-0

Sheffield Wednesday

9,316

Peterborough United

0-0

Brentford

Bull Sent Off 75'

4,658

Plymouth Argyle

Coughlan 47'

Stonebridge 58'

Wotton 90'

3-0

Rushden & Diamonds

Bignot Sent Off 59'

13,021

Port Vale

Lipa 18'

Collins 20'

Bridge-Wilkinson 33' 74'

Paynter 45'

5-1

Grimsby Town

Jevons 34'

5,133

Queens Park Rangers

Rowlands 20'

Gallen 43'

2-1

Brighton & Hove Albion

Cullip 45'

17,839

Swindon Town

Parkin 15'

Mooney 46'

2-0

Colchester United

6,014

Tranmere Rovers

0-0

Hartlepool United

7,418

Wrexham

0-1

Notts County

Parkinson 31'

4,212

Wycombe Wanderers

0-3

Blackpool

Coid 12'

Taylor 27'

Davies 67'

4,834

League Table