Score and Scorers

Starting Line Ups

Barnsley

Substitutes

Barnsley

Yellow and Red Cards

Barnsley

None

None

Stat Attack

Barnsley

Match Notes

By Alun Thomas

PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS? Amid the understandable hullabaloo surrounding the forthcoming Final, this game seems to have taken not so much a back seat as to have been shoved in the boot ; yet it's potentially our most crucial of the season, especially after Saturday's defeat. Three points are a must.

CONDITIONS? Not too cold, no wind, pitch in remarkably good nick for this stage of the season.

SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE? This was the Wrexham we know and love - enigmatic and almost static in the first half, charismatic and aristocratic in the second.

TURNING POINT? Our inability to regroup after Barnsley hit the bar on 72 minutes. We were still breathing sighs of relief as the ball was returned for their leveller.

MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS?
The first 45 minutes were pretty dire, and almost devoid of incident. Neither side rose above the mediocre and despite Barnsley's best efforts we still managed to be even worse than they were. One or two early scares as Morgan, then Lawrence, were caught dozing. What's happened to Dennis? He's a mere shadow (admittedly a very long one) of the accomplished player he had become a year ago, and seems to be dreaming his way through games these days. At least Morgan roused himself and was turned in a sound, solid show.

The goal, on 26 minutes, had a familiar look about it. Our defence was dragged over to the left and Nardiello had time and space to poke the ball past Foster, who was entitled to his angry reaction.

Goodness knows what Denis said at half time, but from the start of the second period we were a team transformed. Slick interchanges and penetrative passing suddenly became the norm and the home side had no answer to it. It goes without saying, natch, that the final ball was lacking or wayward, but you can't have everything! Having said that, both our goals came from accurate centres. The first, just before the hour, saw either Carlos or Juan (can't remember which) cross from the right byline and Ferguson's intelligent run saw him deflect the ball home.

"Wrexham" and "rampant" aren't words you often see in the same sentence, but we were playing some lovely stuff and you could see confidence growing throughout the side. Six minutes after the equaliser, we were ahead. This time Juan got away on the left byline, and delayed his pull-back perfectly for Ferguson, who scuffed his shot but will no doubt claim the assist as Llewellyn drove home.

Fergie's instant shot then brought a sharp save from home gloveman Flinders, but defending one-goal leads is not our forte, and less than ten minutes after taking the lead we were back level. A fulminating, out-of-the-blue shot from way out beat Foster, left the bar twanging like a bowstring and was half cleared - but we failed to deal with the ball when it was returned and the predatory Chopra, a threat throughout, notched from close range.

Both sets of fans, subdued by the dross of the opening period, came to life as an exciting last twenty minutes ensued. Wrexham had the better of the chances, notably when Ferguson played in Llew, who hit the keeper with his first shot and the bar from the rebound. Mackin, who had recovered from a shaky start, was replaced by Sam, who hardly covered himself in glory with some awful passes - although all the T & T lads, who of course spent last week in Central America, looked very jaded.

Late substitutions were Smith, for the busy Crowell, and Armstrong for Ugarte. I have to say that Armstrong looked lean and hungry, and it's not often you can say that. I hope I'm not being too cynical when I say that there's not often a Cup Final starting place up for grabs when Chris comes on.

OPPOSITION AND FANS? Becalmed in mid-table, Barnsley didn't really impress - their thoughts, and those of their fans, are understandably on next season.

OFFICIALS? Let the game flow whenever possible and had no need to resort to any cards.

MAN OF THE MATCH? Never thought I'd say this but I'll go for Llewellyn. Scored, looked fairly sharp throughout and got through his usual high mileage.

IF YOU WERE DS? I'd be scratching my head - but also preparing moon/parrot quotes for the brouhaha to come.

POST-MATCH THOUGHTS? You have to ponder on how much the ten-point deduction has affected the players. It's easy to say that once you cross the touchline you should forget off-field problems, but some of the lads have been visibly affected and this has definitely cost us. Our future remains in doubt and we shouldn't forget that, but at least the LDV Vans Final will provide some much-needed, and possibly mordant, relief.

Jump To: Match Stats, Match Report, Match Reports, Press Conference Quotes, League 1 Results, League Table.

Barnsley FC: Chopra rescues point

Denis Smith: "We did enough, especially in the second half to have won the game. When you are down the bottom and need points, teams tighten up against you. If we had been mid-table we would have gone on to win the game by maybe two or three goals but thanks to the ten point deduction we are now further down the table and you get a different reaction. We passed the ball nicely in the second half until we went 2-1 up. When they equalised we started passing again. It was frustrating but I can't criticise them for effort. This was a good performance against a team doing well." [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Results

Barnsley

Nardiello 26'

Chopra 72'

2-2

Wrexham

Ferguson 58'

Llewellyn 64'

7,753

Bristol City

0-2

Bournemouth

O'Connor 60' 77' (p)

12,008

Hartlepool United

Porter 22'

Sweeney 36'

2-2

Peterborough United

Logan 49'

Willock 56'

4,579

League Table