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Match Report |
Wrexham too slick for the Robins
By: Mark Williams
PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS: After missing a week due to international
football it is important to get three points especially as Cheltenham
are above us in the table.
CONDITIONS: Overcast damp day with a downpour towards the end of
the game.
SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE: A confident performance
from the start but could have been more clinical in front of goal.
TURNING POINT: Wrexham scoring early on gave the confidence to
play stylish football that rocked Cheltenham.
MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS:
Wrexham dominated the first half from the start and could have been a
goal up before Andy Holt opened the scoring in the eight minute, when
Cheltenham failed to clear a Ferguson corner and Jon Walters was denied
his first goal in a Wrexham shirt when a Cheltenham player cleared his
shot off the line.
Wrexham were not to be denied and from another Ferguson corner Andy Holt
found himself unmarked and he planted a header into the roof of the net
that cleared the jumping Cheltenham player on the goal line.
Cheltenham were not in the game and were forced to change their
formation after only 15 minutes but despite the change they still could not cope with the
movement from Wrexham as Foy, Ferguson and Jones tormented the Robins
defence. Alex Smith had another good game down the left and was always
an outlet as Wrexham continued to dominate the game.
Jon Walters went close to extend Wrexham’s lead but his header from
Ferguson’s corner went narrowly over and a good ball in from Smith was
almost converted by Walters but his shot was blocked away following a
neat step over by Ferguson.
With Cheltenham reverting to one up front they never put Wrexham under
any pressure but in Kayode Odejayi they hat a striker who had the
physical presence to play the lone striker role. Odejayi created a
couple of opportunities for himself after Warhurst initially struggled
to cope with his power but when he reached the Wrexham area the final
ball lacked any quality and Ingham was largely a spectator in the
Wrexham goal for the first half hour.
Walters was full of running up front and went close again but this time
Shane Higgs managed to turn his shot around the near post following
further good approach play by Ferguson but despite their dominance
Wrexham could have gone in at half time all square as they gifted the
visitors an opportunity to equalise in first half stoppage time.
The chance felt to Odejayi after the Wrexham defence stood off him and
he was allowed to run half the length of the pitch with the ball. When
he reached the penalty area the Wrexham defence still offered no tackle
and he side stepped Holt but Ingham was alert and turned his goal bound
shot away around the far post for a corner.
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John Wards reaction at the end
spoke volumes, he waited and shook every Wrexham players hand.
 |
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From Anthony
Have your say |
Cheltenham again reorganised a half time matching Wrexham’s 3-5-2
formation with Bird replacing Finnigan and this almost paid dividends as
Odejayi out paced the Wrexham defence early in the second half but again
he rushed his shot on reaching the area and dragged the ball wide into
the side netting of Ingham’s near post. Soon after Simon Spender
replaced Paul Linwood with the on loan Tranmere defender limping off the
pitch.
Wrexham continued to manufacture opportunities with a defence splitting
pass from Smith sending Walters through but his tussle with a Cheltenham
defender resulted in Walters going down in the box but with the referee
waiving play on Walters continued to complain and talked himself into
the book.
Wrexham continue to force corners and from a short corner Ferguson laid
off to Jones who picked out Warhurst in the box but he steered his
header over his bar and Walters repeated this when he connected with
another corner from Ferguson. Foy and Walters went close with curling
efforts from the edge of the area but at the other end Ingham had to be
at full stretch to deny a 25 yard drive from McCann after Wrexham had
failed to clear the initial attack.
Wrexham got the second goal that their performance fully deserved with
twenty minutes left and this put the game beyond Cheltenham. It was
another flowing move from Wrexham with Williams picking out Mark Jones
and his short telling pass found Walters in enough space to curl the
ball around the dive of Higgs and into the net off the near post. It was
a good strike from Walters for his first goal in a Wrexham shirt but the
pass from Jones was weighted perfectly.
Walters then beat Higgs to the ball on the edge of the area but he got
it tangled up in his legs and this allowed Cheltenham to clear the
danger. At the other end of the pitch Ingham did well rushing out to
palm the ball away in his area and then completing the clearance with a
kick into touch. Cheltenham through balls in the box but Ingham’s
handling was superb all afternoon and the last attempt came when Vincent
blazed the ball high over the bar.
OPPOSITION AND FANS: Cheltenham visited the Racecourse with an
unbeaten record but were poor and struggled to live with Wrexham’s slick passing and
movement. Fans were quiet throughout and only made some noise towards
the end of the game.
OFFICIALS: Best referee we have had all season and there can be
no complaints with the two yellow cards issued by Russell Booth.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Jon Walters – as well as the goal he scored his
tireless running and link up with Foy looks to be a promising
partnership.
IF YOU WERE DENIS SMITH: It was a classic home performance with a
clean sheet and a goal in either half. The only down side is that the
score line flattered Cheltenham and Wrexham have to be a lot more
clinical in front of goal as 1-0 leads are not normally comfortable as
the one Wrexham held for much of the game today. |
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Match Reaction |
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Listen to Denis Smith speaking
to Radio Wales
Denis Smith: "It was a performance which deserved a
better result. Those who weren't able to be with us today missed an absolute
treat! There are always things that you can improve on and even at 2-0 we
were trying to grab a third. Considering the on-going personnel problems
that we have here, Dennis Lawrence arriving late and Paul Linwood getting
injured, it has been great to see the other lads slot it and they have done
a great job for us. Hopefully, the knee injury for Paul [Linwood] won't be
too serious but at least we have Dennis Lawrence back for Tuesday night. I
have been happy with the way that people like Dean Bennett and Simon Spender
have come into the side and the job that they have done for us. Look at Paul
Warhurst he is 109 next birthday - we should be wrapping him up in cotton
wool, but he strolled through it today! Our passing and movement today was
excellent. Coming on top of Boston and Barnet, I thought that we paid even
better today. In fact it would be hard to pick out anyone who didn't play
well." [Source:
Wrexham AFC]
John Ward: "The first half that Wrexham produced was
probably the best team we've played this season in terms of their football,
their quality and their touch and we found it extremely difficult to stay
with them. At 1-0 I wanted the half-time whistle probably more than Denis
[Smith - Wrexham manager] did because it gave us a chance to regroup and see
if we could cause them some problems. But they looked a confident team with
good passing ability and used the width of the pitch well. We looked a
little naieve in the first half but the second half was slightly more even.
We had a few more attempts to put the ball in the net and when you come away
to a team like Wrexham, if you do get a chance then you have to be better
with it. I didn't think that despite all the play when we got into the last
25 yards we were clean and clinical enough. If we had got a goal back it
would have altered Wrexham's thinking but we were unable to do that."
[Source:
Cheltenham Town FC] |
|
League 2 Table |
|
Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
1 |
Notts County |
8 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
16 |
|
2 |
Grimsby Town |
8 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
16 |
|
3 |
Carlisle United |
8 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
14 |
|
4 |
Rochdale |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
17 |
11 |
6 |
13 |
|
5 |
Chester City |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
14 |
11 |
3 |
13 |
|
6 |
Darlington |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
10 |
3 |
13 |
|
7 |
Leyton Orient |
8 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
13 |
-1 |
13 |
| 8 |
Wycombe Wanderers |
8 |
2 |
6 |
0 |
14 |
9 |
5 |
12 |
|
9 |
Wrexham |
7 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
| 10 |
Cheltenham Town |
8 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
11 |
| 11 |
Peterborough United |
8 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
11 |
| 12 |
Northampton Town |
8 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
8 |
1 |
11 |
| 13 |
Barnet |
8 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
11 |
11 |
0 |
11 |
| 14 |
Stockport County |
8 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
13 |
13 |
0 |
9 |
| 15 |
Shrewsbury Town |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
-1 |
9 |
| 16 |
Lincoln City |
7 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
8 |
| 17 |
Bristol Rovers |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
12 |
-2 |
8 |
| 18 |
Oxford United |
7 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
-2 |
7 |
| 19 |
Rushden and Diamonds |
7 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
9 |
-3 |
7 |
| 20 |
Boston United |
8 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
12 |
17 |
-5 |
7 |
| 21 |
Mansfield Town |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
12 |
15 |
-3 |
6 |
| 22 |
Macclesfield Town |
7 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
12 |
-5 |
5 |
|
23 |
Bury |
8 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
13 |
-6 |
5 |
|
24 |
Torquay United |
8 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
13 |
-8 |
5 |
 |
|
|
Match Notes |
| Venue: |
Racecourse Ground |
| Attendance: |
3,671 |
| Half Time: |
Wrexham 1 Cheltenham 0 |
| Referee: |
Russell Booth (Nottinghamshire) |
|
|
Match Incidents |
| 07' |
Andy Holt plants a free
header into the roof of the net after being unmarked for a Darren
Ferguson corner. |
| 45' |
Michael Ingham makes a
good save from Kayode Odejayi to deny Cheltenham an equaliser in
first half injury time. |
| 69' |
Jon Walters scores his
first Wrexham goal with a shot from outside of the area after being
set up with a neat pass from Mark Jones. |
|
|
50'
83'
86'
83'
86'
45'