Wrexham 2
Luton Town 1

Saturday 24 April 2004 @ 15:00

MATCH STATS

Score and Scorers

Wrexham 2 Luton Town 1
Hector Sam 35' 62' Steve Howard 63'

Starting Line Ups

Wrexham Luton Town
27 Mike Ingham 01 Morten Hyldgaard
04 Steve Roberts 41 Kevin Foley
20 Simon Spender 31 Curtis Davies
06 Dennis Lawrence 12 Chris Coyne
12 Paul Barrett 24 Sol Davies
19 Steve Thomas 37 Keith Keane 60'
10 Darren Ferguson 08 Kevin Nicholls 75'
16 Matt Crowell 67' 38 Michael Leary
14 Paul Edwards 39 Stephen O'Leary
23 Hector Sam 16 Enoch Showunmi
11 Chris Llewellyn 19 Steve Howard

Substitutes

Wrexham Luton Town
03 Shaun Holmes 03 Alan Neilson
08 Lee Jones 07 Adrian Forbes 60'
09 Chris Armstrong 23 Ian Hillier
13 Paul Whitfield (GK) 32 Lee Mansell 75'
17 Mark Jones 67' 33 Dean Brill (GK)

Yellow and Red Cards

Wrexham Luton Town

45'

Matt Crowell - Foul on Sol Davies

20'

Steve Howard - Foul on Darren Ferguson
    71' Curtis Davies - Foul on Paul Edwards
    89' Kevin Foley - Foul on Paul Edwards

Stat Attack

Wrexham Luton Town
9 Shots on Goal 6
3 Shots on Target 2
12 Fouls Committed 13
2 Corners 6
1 Yellow Card 3
0 Red Card 0

Match Notes

Venue: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 3,239
Referee: Kevin Friend - Leicestershire Half Time: Wrexham 1 Luton 0
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MATCH REPORT

SAM SHINES IN THE SUN

By Mark Williams

Pre-match thoughts: After finishing on a high last season it was a strange feeling going to a match with nothing to play for.

Conditions: Beautiful sunny spring day with no wind and a perfect pitch.

Tactics: One change with Simon Spender moving from right wingback to the centre of defence to replace the injured Craig Morgan and Paul Barrett recalled to the right as cover.

Sum up the performance in one sentence: Hard working with an edge up front.

Turning point: Hard to say as the game was very even with either team having a dominating spell. Probably Sam’s second was too much for Luton as they were not that good up front.

Main incidents and goals:

0-15 minutes: Steve Thomas was straight on the attack after receiving the ball midway in the Luton half and with no challenge on offer he advanced to the edge of the area but his shot curled narrowly wide of Hyldgaard’s right hand post. At the other end of the pitch Luton had a couple of openings. From a counter attack Stuart Howard held the ball up well and played in Michael Leary down the right but Michael Ingham was quick of his line to block the shot away to safety. Score 0-0.

15-30 minutes: There were a lot of offside decisions in the match and one on the quarter-of-an-hour mark led to Denis Smith blowing a gasket at the reserve official. Simon Spender knocked a good ball over the top to Paul Edwards on the left wing who looked to have made his run from his own half but the offside flag was raised for players in the centre even though the ball was played out to the left wing and they were not interfering in play! Smith eventually calmed down but Luton went the closest so far to opening the scoring. A throw in was made to the edge of the area and after Wrexham hesitated to clear the danger the ball bounced once and Stephen O’Leary turned and in one movement struck the ball sweetly on the half volley that had Ingham beaten all ends up but fortunately for Wrexham it rattled the crossbar before they could scramble it away for safety. Score 0-0.

30-45 minutes: Wrexham opened the scoring with ten minutes of the half remaining through a near post header from Hector Sam. After good play from Paul Edwards he forced a corner that was taken short to Steve Thomas and he curled in a cross from the left to the unmarked Sam at the near post that he met to head from close range beyond Hyldgaard into the net. The visitors should have been back on level terms within two minutes when Steve Howard was played in down the middle but Steve Roberts tracked his run all the way and he managed to put in a last ditched challenge in the box to knick the ball away from Howard as he was about to shoot. The last change of the half fell to Chris Llewellyn after he was played in down the middle but the striker took too long to get his shot in and this allowed a Luton defender to block the his effort on goal. Half Time Wrexham 1-0.

well done hector, 4 goals in 3 games, surely even denis smith cant drop him now, armstrong is not up to the job at wrexham im affraid

wrecsamambyth on the RP Messageboard
click here to have your say

45-60 minutes: The second half almost started in the same vein of the first. Luton had an initial attack that resulted in Showunmi dragging a shot wide but moments later Steve Thomas went close just like he did in the opening stages of the game. Hector Sam was disposed on the edge of the area but it fell kindly to Thomas who attempted to curl his shot inside the near post but the ball again ended narrowly wide. Showunmi was now the main threat for Luton and from his header Ingham had to back track to catch the ball underneath his bar whilst under pressure from other Luton attackers. Showunmi was again in the thick of the action when he was played through on goal but Ingham was again the saviour for Wrexham as he stood up well before turning the ball away for a corner. Score 1-0 Wrexham.

60-75 minutes: Wrexham were giving away a lot of possession and territory to Luton who had to win to keep any chances of a play off spot alive. This resulted in the home side playing on the counter attack but with the pace of Sam and the hard work from Llewellyn this was always a decent outlet. In the 62nd minute both players linked up when Llewellyn played in a through ball for Sam to collect whilst bursting into the box. For some reason Sam decided to turn and with the chance looked to have gone my mate Paul came out with the classic line: ‘What you doing Sam you stupid idiot’. Promptly Sam managed to turn once more and from close range struck the ball low past Hyldgaard for his and Wrexham’s second of the afternoon! The two goal lead was soon reduced as Luton pulled a goal back within two minutes of the restart. Good play from Stephen O’Leary down the left resulted in the youngster flicking the ball over the head of Steve Roberts to Steve Howard who had a free shot from ten yards out and he made no mistake from his well struck effort. Score 2-1 Wrexham.

75-90 minutes: With the game entering its final stages the expected onslaught from Luton did not arrive and their only shots on goal were forced from set plays or long range shots that all went wide. At the other end of the pitch Mark Jones had replaced Matt Crowell and his pace and ability created a couple of half chances but they resulted in disappointing conclusions. Hector Sam had an opportunity at the death to grab a hat trick when he out muscled a defender to get in the box but his flick over the keeper was cleared off the line by the covering defender. There were two minutes of injury time that were too comfortable for Wrexham with all things considered but none of the Racecourse faithful were complaining. Final Score 2-1 Wrexham

Opposition and fans: After being ruled out of play off spot for weeks it was again annoying to see Luton come to the Racecourse still mathematically possible of snatching the final spot. They were no better than Wrexham and just like watching Port Vale and Hartlepool in recent weeks it was again difficult to workout the team higher in the table.

Officials: Kevin Friend had a weird game making some strange decisions. It was just as well the game was a meaningless end of season affair otherwise there would have been eruptions on and off the field.

Man of the match: Cannot disagree with the sponsors choice of Hector Sam as his goals won the game although Chris Llewellyn’s work rate is worth a note.

If you were Denis Smith: Happy with the three points and now aiming for a top of the table finish. The performance from Simon Spender is also encouraging for the future.

Post match thoughts: After the way the season has fizzed out you always still wasn’t to finish on a high and hopefully this is the start of it with two games left.

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DETAILED MATCH REPORTS
Hatternet: Wrexham 2-1 Luton Town - It's all over!
Luton Today: Dead end for sad Hatters
Luton Town FC: Howard's goal not enough
Wales on Sunday: Hatters topped by Sam double
Wrexham AFC: Racecourse rocks to the Samba beat
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OTHER MATCH REPORTS
Ananova: FT- Wrexham 2 Luton 1
BBCi: Wrexham 2-1 Luton

BBCi: Wrexham 2 Luton Town 1 - Minute-by-Minute

Nationwide Football: Wrexham 2, Luton Town 1
Sporting Life: Wrexham 2 Luton Town 1 - Match Stats
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AUDIO REPORTS AND QUOTES
Red Passion Soccer Saturday Audio Report with Mark Williams

Listen to Denis Smith speaking to BBC Radio Wales

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PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Denis Smith: "I thought that we played well today but there is a limit to what you can do when you have players missing. We worked hard and got what we deserved, the front 2 worked their socks off. At the back the lads had to withstand a bombardment. The ball was coming in constantly, but they were able to handle it. Paul Barrett at wing-back, probably our fifth choice, worked his socks off. He’s done superbly, and then you’ve got the kid [Simon Spender] at the back. All in all it was a great performance. The disappointing thing is, that the people who are staying away are making my job more difficult. It’s hard to now go to the board and demand money, when we are only getting three thousand through the gate. I know what Hector is capable of. What we have got to do now is to get him to do it consistently. Today, and in the week, and last Saturday, he’s done just that. That’s why he gets picked!! You always have to have ambitions and mine now is to finish in the top half and the top ten if possible. Then, okay, we can say we’ve had a reasonable season. We think that it could have been better as we have blown up towards the end. We have picked up injuries towards the end of the season and maybe, that’s given a few teams a spur by them thinking that we’ve gone. Now they might look and think that it might be a more difficult game. We’ve still got 2 more league games to go and I’d like to get 6 points.” [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Mike Newell: "I've just said to the players in the dressing room that personally I am disappointed that the season fizzled out the way that it has We've been up against it in the last month but I believed that the spirit and they way the young lads have come in and done well that we could sneak in. The injuries and suspensions have caught up with us because we haven't been able to replace them. It is always difficult for a team in administration to achieve anything because you can't add to what you've got. The teams at the top of the league, in any country, are the teams that have the best squads. You finish where you are supposed to finish. We've gone away and created chances but we haven't been able to finish teams off. It has been a disappointing side to our season. We created enough chances in the first half to have put the game out of Wrexham's reach. It's been the case on several occasions this season and it is something that we need to look at. We lacked the ability to put the ball in the net but now we have to move on and win the last two matches of the season. We need to finish the season as high as we can and we need to finish on a high so that when we come back we have the believe that we can achieve something next season." [Source: Luton Town FC]
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DIVISION TWO

Results

Brentford

Harrold 72'

1-1

Wycombe Wanderers

Tyson 54'

7,145

 

Bristol City

0-0

Brighton & Hove Albion

17,088

 

Chesterfield

Niven 20'

1-0

Blackpool

Barnes Sent Off 68'

4,117

 

Notts County

Heffernan 90'

Notts County Relegated

1-2

Port Vale

McPhee 4'

Brooker 34'

5,834

 

Peterborough United

0-1

Bournemouth

C Fletcher 81'

,4831

 

Plymouth Argyle

Evans 81'

Friio 86'

Plymouth Promoted as Champions

2-0

Queens Park Rangers

19,888

 

Rushden & Diamonds

0-2

Hartlepool United

E Williams 56'

Boyd 79'

4,568

 

Sheffield Wednesday

0-1

Colchester United

Keith 48'

20,464

 

Stockport County

Daly 6'

Jackman 10'

2-1

Grimsby Town

Hockless 70'

5,924

 

Swindon Town

Fakkon 79'

1-2

Oldham Athletic

Murray 8'

Johnson 74'

8,506

 

Tranmere Rovers

Hume 62'

Taylor 88'

2-0

Barnsley

7,612

 

Wrexham

Sam 35' 62'

2-1

Luton Town

Howard 63'

3,239

 

League Table

  Pos Team   P   W   D   L   F   A   GD   Pts
C 1 Plymouth Argyle   44   24   12   8   80   40   40   84
Pl 2 Queens Park Rangers   44   20   17   7   76   44   32   77
Pl 3 Bristol City   44   21   13   10   55   36   19   76
  4 Swindon Town   44   20   12   12   75   56   19   72
  5 Hartlepool United   44   20   12   12   74   57   17   72
  6 Brighton & Hove Alb   44   20   11   13   61   43   18   71
7 Port Vale 44 19 10 15 69 62 7 67
8 AFC Bournemouth 44 17 14 13 56 50 6 65
9 Tranmere Rovers 44 16 16 12 56 53 3 64
10 Luton Town 44 16 15 13 66 63 3 63
11 Colchester United 44 16 13 15 50 54 -4 61
12 Blackpool 44 16 11 17 56 59 -3 59
13 Barnsley 44 14 17 13 51 55 -4 59
14 Wrexham 44 17 8 19 49 57 -8 59
15 Oldham Athletic 44 11 20 13 63 59 4 53
16 Sheffield Wednesday 44 13 14 17 45 58 -13 53
17 Stockport County 44 11 18 15 60 67 -7 51
18 Brentford 44 13 11 20 51 68 -17 50
19 Peterborough United 44 11 15 18 53 56 -3 48
20 Rushden and Diamonds 44 13 9 22 60 70 -10 48
  21 Chesterfield   44   11   15   18   48   69   -21   48
  22 Grimsby Town   44   12   11   21   53   79   -26   47
R 23 Notts County   44   10   11   23   49   76   -27   41
R 24 Wycombe Wanderers   44   6   17   21   48   73   -25   35
C=Champions; P=Promoted; Pl=Secured Play Off Spot; R=Relegated
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