Grimsby Town 1
Wrexham 3

Tuesday 20 January 2004 @ 19:45

MATCH STATS

Score and Scorers

Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 3
Phil Jevons 73' Chris Llewellyn 19'
    Steve Thomas 24'
    Chris Armstrong 63'

Starting Line Ups

Grimsby Town

Wrexham
01 Aidan Davison 01 Andy Dibble
02 John McDermott 04 Steve Roberts
04 Simon Ford 05 Brian Carey
25 Mike Edwards 06 Dennis Lawrence
16 Greg Young 07 Carlos Edwards
21 Iain Anderson 60' 02 Jim Whitley
32 Nicky Daws 10 Darren Ferguson
26 Jason Crowe 19 Steve Thomas 86'
12 Phil Jevons 14 Paul Edwards 89'
39 Iffy Onuora 60' 09 Chris Armstrong
09 Michael Boulding 11 Chris Llewellyn

Substitutes

Grimsby Town

Wrexham
10 Darren Mansaram 60' 03 Shaun Holmes 89'
15 Jonathon Rowan 12 Paul Barrett 86'
18 Graham Hockless 60' 13 Paul Whitfield
20 Des Hamilton 15 Craig Morgan
22 Paul Groves 17 Mark Jones

Yellow and Red Cards

Grimsby Town

Wrexham

 

 

33'

Jim Whitley - Foul on Nicky Daws

Stat Attack

Grimsby Town

Wrexham
14 Shots on Goal 10
10 Shots on Target 9
10 Fouls Committed 13
4 Corners 8
0 Yellow Card 1
0 Red Card 0

Other Information

Venue: Blundell Park Attendance: 3,572
Referee: G Hegley - Hertfordshire Half Time: Grimsby 0 Wrexham 2
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MATCH REPORT

"CARLOS - WHO ELSE?"

By Alun Thomas

PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS: Didn't think I could make this one but a providential glitch at work meant some hasty rearranging and a slog through the Lincolnshire rain. Wrexham won three on the trot, then lost three on the trot, so some knives are out, but nine points from a possible eighteen is reasonable mid-table form. Armstrong and Thomas start ; the hosts' Welsh international Darren Barnard is missing.

CONDITIONS: Constant drizzle.

TACTICS: Difficult to say - don't pussyfoot around at the back and get the ball out to Carlos ASAP, I suppose.

SUM UP PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE: I guess this was the performance DS promised us for the Notts game - gritty, professional stuff ; but we weren't up against much.

TURNING POINT: The two first half goals in quick succession. You could see home heads going down.

MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS:

0-15 Minutes: Grimsby's early probing was dealt with without too many problems, our defence looking sharp. Memo to Lawrence, by the way - lose the gloves, you big wuss. Only goalkeepers should wear them. Score 0-0.

15-30 Minutes: Carlos was becoming increasingly influential and on 19 minutes his cross found Llewellyn, whose downward header was straight out of the coaching manual. The bit between their teeth, Wrexham poured on the coal and were rewarded four minutes later when Carlos jinked into the area and squared to Thomas, who produced one of those shots we all know he's capable of but doesn't deliver often enough. Score 0-2.

30-45 Minutes: Of course it was too early for damage limitation, and Grimsby came back into contention, although they were hardly being roared on by a passionate crowd. Whitley was booked for a (very) late tackle. One or two of the lads were tiring visibly - Ferguson was even letting Thomas take corners! Score 0-2.

45-60 Minutes: We were still looking fairly comfortable at 2-0, with Armstrong and Llewellyn dovetailing nicely and seeming to be on the same wavelength. Was this what Denis had in mind when he signed them in the summer? Score 0-2.

60-75 Minutes: Carlos (who else?) cut in from the right, weighed up his options and chose correctly - a little cut-back to the predatory Armstrong who greedily gobbled up the goal. Grimsby didn't seem to have the heart after that although they got a consolation when Jevons (is he ex-Everton?) scored with a header that seemed to go straight through Dibble. Score 1-3.

75-90 Minutes: Barrett on for Thomas, who didn't look best pleased. An exhausted Eddie was replaced by Holmes, whose first touch almost induced an own goal by a home defender. Couple of saves from Dibble, and Jevons shaved the bar in injury time. Final score 1-3.

OPPOSITION AND FANS: At the end of the game, "Things Can Only Get Better" blared out into the Humberside sky. If I were a Grimsby fan, I wouldn't bet on it. On this showing, a second successive relegation beckons.

OFFICIALS: All three had sound games.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Difficult to fault anyone. Carlos, as he so often is, was peerless, and Thomas deserves a nomination. He'll never command a big fee, but his was an energetic and committed show tonight. However - and here's a collector's item - my choice would be Chris Armstrong. Always a threat, he was still chasing in injury time, and his class shone throughout.

IF YOU WERE DS: "Into the bar after the shower, lads - I'll buy everyone a drink! Err...that's if my wages have gone in..."

POST-MATCH THOUGHTS: All's well with the world - until Saturday at least!

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DETAILED MATCH REPORTS

BBCi: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 3 - Minute-by-minute

Electronic Fishcake: Grimsby 1-3 Wrexham
Grimsby Town FC: Phutt! The Magic Dragons
Sporting Life: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 3 - Match Stats
Wrexham AFC: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 3 (Ft)
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OTHER MATCH REPORTS

Ananova: FT- Grimsby 1 Wrexham 3

BBCi: Grimsby 1-3 Wrexham
Nationwide Football: Mariners fall to Wrexham Loss
Nationwide Football: Grimsby Town 1, Wrexham 3
Sporting Life: Neverless Wrex
Sporting Life: Dragons secure away success
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PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Denis Smith: “The energies were much better tonight, and don’t ask me why they have been missing over the last few games. Today they were back and that is much more like us. We looked heavy legged against Chesterfield and Notts County, but tonight we sprinted for everything. When we are doing that we have got a chance. We don’t have great players so what we have to do is be a good team. When we work as hard as we have tonight then we are liable to get results.  Tonight’s is a good result, because contrary to what people think I regard Grimsby as a good side. In their last home game they held Plymouth to a 0-0 draw and played them off the park. I’m delighted with the way that we have performed especially in the first half." [Source: Wrexham AFC]

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DIVISION TWO

Results

Grimsby Town

Jevons 73'

1-3

Wrexham

Llewellyn 19'

Thomas 24'

Armstrong 63'

3,572

 

League Table

Pos   Team   P   W   D   L   F   A   GD   Pts
1   Plymouth Argyle   27   16   8   3   62   25   37   56
2   Queens Park Rangers   27   15   9   3   49   21   28   54
3   Bristol City   26   12   10   4   37   20   17   46
4   Port Vale   26   12   6   8   40   34   6   42
5   Barnsley   26   11   9   6   34   30   4   42
6   Swindon Town   27   11   8   8   38   32   6   41

7

  Wrexham   27   12   4   11   34   30   4   40
8 Brighton & Hove Alb 26 11 6 9 38 29 9 39
9 Hartlepool United 26 10 9 7 37 30 7 39
10 Luton Town 26 10 9 7 41 39 2 39
11 Colchester United 26 10 7 9 28 34 -6 37
12 Rushden and Diamonds 27 10 6 11 43 42 1 36
13 AFC Bournemouth 27 9 9 9 32 33 -1 36
14 Blackpool 26 11 3 12 33 36 -3 36
15 Oldham Athletic 27 7 11 9 38 40 -2 32
16 Sheffield Wednesday 27 7 11 9 31 35 -4 32
17 Tranmere Rovers 26 7 11 8 28 36 -8 32
18 Grimsby Town 27 7 9 11 31 43 -12 30
19 Brentford 27 8 6 13 28 40 -12 30
20 Peterborough United 27 6 10 11 33 37 -4 28
21   Stockport County   26   5   11   10   34   42   -8   26
22   Notts County   27   6   6   15   26   46   -20   24
23   Chesterfield   27   5   9   13   21   42   -21   24
24   Wycombe Wanderers   27   4   7   16   28   48   -20   19
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