Score and Scorers

Starting Line Ups

Substitutes

Yellow and Red Cards

66'

57'

Stat Attack

Match Notes

SOLID START FOR DRAGONS
By Mark Williams

Pre-match thoughts: After a morale boosting march towards the Racecourse everyday was pumped up for the football after the pre season was dominated with the off-field events.

Conditions: Constant sunshine throughout with temperature reaching the mid twenties – not ideal to play football.

Tactics: Same formation as last season but the ball was played more through the midfield as Wrexham lacked pace on the flanks.

Sum up the performance in one sentence: Solid at the back and dangerous up front.

Turning point: Swindon hitting the bar midway through the first half and Wrexham opening the scoring within ten minutes.

Main incidents and goals:

0-15 minutes: Wrexham, attacking the away end, took the game to the visitors with summer signing Alex Smith having the first shot on goal after the ball rebounded to him 25 yards from goal but his left footed shot was straight at Rhys Evans in the Swindon goal. Darren Ferguson was next to try his luck after Andrew Gurney was penalised for hand ball just outside of the area. Evans was this time helpless as the Ferguson’s free kick had him beaten but the ball did not have enough curl as it evaded the left upright. Wrexham continued to press Swindon and it was last season’s top scorer, Hector Sam, who forced a save out of Evans after ten minutes. Sam cut in from the left across the area and his low right foot drive to the near post was turned away by the diving Evans. Score 0-0.

15-30 minutes: Swindon had not fashioned a chance in the open quarter of an hour but they did come the closest of breaking the deadlock in the sixteenth minute. Good approach play from the visitors on the edge of the Wrexham area created a half chance for Brian Howard who struck a sweet left footed shot from 25 yards that rattled the Wrexham cross bar with Andy Dibble beaten all ends up. With the high tempo in the first 20 minutes it was no surprise that the game entered a quiet spell but out of the blue Wrexham opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Swindon failed to clear the long throw from Andrew Holt on the left and the ball bounced kindly for Brian Carey on the touch line. He spotted Dennis Lawrence in open space at the back post and hooked the ball across the face of goal for the unmarked Lawrence to score with a diving header from within the six yard box. Score 1-0 Wrexham.

30-45 minutes: With Swindon failing to make an impact on the game manager Andy King make a tactical change with a substitution in the 34th minute when Alan Reeves replacing David Duke and this allowed Swindon to add an extra player in midfield after Wrexham had over ran them in the opening third. Despite the change Wrexham created the next opportunity when the ball was worked across the area with five minutes of the half remaining. Jim Whitley, playing at right wing back, collected the ball on the corner of the area and he cut inside his marker and Rhys Evans did well to palm away Whitley’s inswinging shot to the far post. Wrexham collected the lose ball and when it was eventually returned into the mixer Chris Llewellyn struck goalwards only to see Alan Reeves clear off the line. Apart from striking the woodwork Swindon rarely created any decent opportunities although they did go close at the end of the half. Sammy Igoe swung in a cross to the far post from the right wing but substitute Alan Reeves should have done better with his header as he could only guide the ball over the bar. Half Time 1-0 Wrexham.

45-60 minutes: The second half was marred by off field events when Chairman Alex Hamilton decided to voyage into the Kop at the end of half time and I must admit that I missed the first ten minutes of the second half because of all the chaos he caused. It did boost the crowd as chants echoed around the Racecourse and at the end of this spell Wrexham finally got their game together. Unfortunately for Hamilton the chants were about saving the Racecourse rather than dismantling it, which is the Chairman’s plan. The only real chance fell to Swindon when a ball was swung in from the left that Dennis Lawrence had to scramble behind for a corner at the far post. Score 1-0 Wrexham.

60-75 minutes: It came as no surprise when Hector Sam was replaced by Chris Armstrong on the hour mark as Wrexham were struggling to retain possession up field. Armstrong was quick into the action when he took a high ball to the edge of the area and after a quick turn he dragged his right footed shot wide of the left upright. Andrew Holt was harshly booked in the 65th minute after a challenge on Steve Robinson when the wing back appeared to have got the ball. Jim Whitely came to the rescue of Wrexham with twenty minutes left when Sam Parkin got free down the left side of the area but good positioning from Whitley forced Parkin to turn away from goal and this allowed Wrexham to reorganise and eventually clear the danger. Sammy Igoe tried his luck from outside of the area but Dibble was well positioned to collect the ball at the first attempt and almost immediately Wrexham were on the attack and scored the decisive second goal. Holt swung the ball into the centre of the area from the left where Chris Armstrong and Grant Smith challenged for the ball. Smith appeared to be grappling onto Armstrong preventing the striker from challenging for the ball and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. After a short delay Armstrong ran up and struck an unstoppable right foot penalty into the side netting that gave keeper Rhys Evans no chance despite him diving the right way. Score 2-0 Wrexham.

75-90 minutes: With Swindon looking to get back into the game they were restricted to long range shots by the mean Wrexham defence and on too many occasions the visitors failed to hit the target. Brian Howard had a 25 yard shot saved by Dibble but Sammy Igoe was wayward with his effort. With five minutes Shaun Pejic replaced Brian Carey in defence for Wrexham but it was his defensive partner Dennis Lawrence who came to Wrexham’s rescue with a block from Matt Hewlett after the ball have dropped to him from Howard’s inswinging free kick. Substitute Andrew Caton, who had replaced Grant Smith after he gave away the penalty, fired in a low drive across goal but in the dying seconds the 16-year-old scored a consolation for the visitors after Andy Dibble could only parry the initial shot from Brian Howard at the near post. Final Score 2-1 Wrexham.

Opposition and fans: Swindon look comfortable on the ball and will create better chances than what they did today but their main problem is in defence as leaving a player 6ft 7 unmarked at the back post is asking for trouble and trouble is what they got when Dennis Lawrence opened Wrexham’s account for the season. 700 fans made the trip to North Wales but were not that vocal.

Officials: Scott Mathieson had a quiet afternoon with nothing controversial to deal with. He kept his whistle away from his mouth and this allowed the game to flow well. Only question mark was Andrew Holt’s booking when he appeared to have got the ball.

Man of the match: Sponsors chose Dennis Lawrence but I would have picked Andrew Holt as he had a good game down the left –both in defence and attack.

If you were Denis Smith: Pleased with the performance and discipline but annoyed by conceding the goal in injury time.

Post match thoughts: The new additions to the squad have appeared to strengthen us from last season. The system also changed with more balls played through the middle as we no longer have the pace on the flanks but new players are comfortable on the ball and worked well as a team.

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

Denis Smith: “I would have been happier with a 2-0 win, I’m not particularly pleased that we gave the ball away and got a little sloppy at the end. I think the lads worked extremely hard, they were difficult conditions to play in and even I have had a shower after that. I thought we looked hard to break down and were very disciplined. There were some good moves in the patches when we played well, as against other the patches where we dug in. We can play good football, but when we have to dig in, then we showed we have qualities to do just that. I’m pleased with the big man (Lawrence), who did extremely well last season. We are looking at our defenders to give us a few more goals, as we are big side and they must have been looking at us wondering who was going to mark who. Chris Armstrong was a little unlucky not to start the game, but I have got decisions to make and that’s lovely for me. Hector has been looking very sharp in pre-season, it looked bit hot for him out there today, especially with the defensive work we asked him to do. While we always know what we are going to get from Chris Llewellyn and between the three of them I expect to get me goals. I thought Alex Smith for me, was possible the man of the match, while Holty got in there and worked hard, while Danny was Danny, firing in a couple of shots and getting in there to win some headers. Now we need to carry on the way we have been playing, as we look difficult to break down and if we were able to play like that for the whole season, then we might surprise a few people.” [Source: Wrexham AFC]

Results

Bristol City

Lita 59'

1-1

Torquay United

Woods 72' (p)

14,275

Chesterfield

Allison 17'

Folan 64'

N'Toya 90;

3-1

Brentford

Rhodes 70'

4,651

Doncaster Rovers

Ryan 8'

Fortune-West 81'

2-0

Blackpool

7,082

Hartlepool United

Boyd 75' (p)

Robertson 81'

2-1

Bradford City

Windass 54'

6,032

Hull City

Green 3'(p)

1-0

Bournemouth

17,569

Luton Town

Howard 19'

Underwood 65'

2-1

Oldham Athletic

Haining 10'

6,634

Milton Keynes

McLeod 76'

1-1

Barnsley

Reid 22'

4,720

Peterborough United

Burton 80'

1-0

Tranmere Rovers

5,390

Sheffield Wednesday

0-3

Colchester United

Fagan 85'

Stockley 89'

Keith 90'

24,138

Stockport County

Beckett 57'

Feeney 68'

2-3

Huddersfield Town

Carss 45'

Booth 87'

Abbott 90'

7,473

Walsall

Fryatt 12'

Williams 82'

Taylor 86'

Roper Sent Off 67'

3-2

Port Vale

Painter 61'

Matthews 90'

Painter Sent Off 62'

8,225

Wrexham

Lawrence 24'

Armstrong 73' (p)

2-1

Swindon Town

Caton 90'

5,099

League Table