Match Report

Torquay got the goal they needed but it was again bad defending from Wrexham as they failed to clear the ball into the box. Pejic, Spender and Ferguson all had opportunities to clear the danger but they just stood there as Martin Phillips found himself in space down the left channel and he placed his shot through the legs of Carrots for the opening goal in the ninth minute.

The goal did spark Wrexham into life and Matt Crowell forced Andy Marriott into a save when he held Crowell’s shot from 30 yards after he had been set up by a pass from Spender. Walters also curled a shot into the arms of Marriott as the game went into a quiet spell on and off the pitch.

What did come across during the quiet spell is that you could not here any of the Wrexham outfield players talking, as if there was no leader on the pitch. The only voices were coming from teenager Michael Jones and he made it clear to Lawrence on one occasion that when he calls for the ball it is his!

All of the sudden, Wrexham had a decent opening on goal that came from the route one approach. Carrots’ goal kick was flicked past the last defender by Jon Walters for Matt Derbyshire to chase. Derbyshire beat Marriott to the ball and knocked it past the keeper only for Steve Woods to track back and hack the ball clear from the goal line.

Wrexham clearly had more about them after the break with the first chance falling to the team in red when Jon Walters turned and shot from the edge of the area but his left footed effort was well saved by Andy Marriott, who got a heroes welcome from the 200+ Wrexham fans gathered behind his goal when he came out for the second half.

Alex Smith was caught in possession twenty five yards from goal and it took a good tackle from Danny Williams to deny Torquay a shot on goal and Carrots made a decent save when he raced off his line and dived to smother the ball at the feet of Thorpe.

Wrexham introduced Matty Done with 25 minutes left but for some reason none of the players wanted to pass the ball to him! When Done eventually got the ball he looked lively and supplied some decent crosses from the left wing. One of these should have resulted in the equaliser when Jon Walters headed back across goal but Ferguson got underneath the ball and lifted his effort high over the bar from only six yards out.

Carrots did make one mistake from a corner when he dropped the ball with fifteen minutes left but he quickly recovered and Wrexham cleared the danger.

Mark Jones, who had a poor game and did not look fit, was replaced by Dean Bennett for the last ten minutes and Wrexham did create two more opportunities but failed to find the target with both of them.

The first was for Dennis Lawrence when he headed Ferguson’s cross narrowly wide at the back post and Walters had one last chance in injury time but he fired just over the bar.

Unfortunately for Wrexham, the performance was overshadowed by an incident at the end when stewards had to intervene to pull Darren Ferguson away from fans after they traded insults with one another. I was too far away to comment on what went on but it does not strike you as a club in unity on and off the field.

OPPOSITION: Torquay were fighting for their lives and their performance showed it. The pace of Kuffour and the presence of Thorpe were a perfect combination and Torquay’s front two tested the Wrexham defence all afternoon. With two of their three remaining games at home, you would have to fancy their chances of staying up but unfortunately for them, we are playing their rivals Oxford next week.

OFFICIALS: Referee was OK but the linesman had a stinker in the second half and his decision to flag the ball out when it clearly hadn’t crossed the line was a joke.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Jon Walters – worked hard all game but the service to him was poor.

IF YOU WERE DENIS SMITH: Grateful we got all the points on the board in 2005, as the majority of our performances since the turn of the year have not been good enough.

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "Two weeks ago we were cast iron play off certainties, now I'm glad we have points on board or we'd be looking at relegation. Why? You have to speak to the players. I've run out of things to say to them and out of ideas to get them going. I'm not happy. If people want to give me stick I'll be glad to talk to them, but they'd better be brave. We give sides the lead then proceed to dominate the game without creating anything. If we'd scored one at Torquay we could have got two or three. But they sat in, defended and got away with it. It's up to us to break them down, but we haven't shown the ability to do that. It seems to me that we're determined to keep the bottom of the league survival race alive. I go through all of the problems before every game, but I don't know what's going on between my players' ears." [Source: BBC]

Ian Atkins: "It makes it more than interesting. Two matches ago, we were five points behind everyone - now we are ahead of Rushden with a game in hand on them. We had to win this one, but we have two of our last three games at home." [Source: BBC]

Torquay United

Starting XI:

01	Andy Marriott
25	Steven Reed
28	Lee Andrews
18	Steve Woods
05	Craig Taylor
14	Martin Phillips
24	Danny Hollands
06	Darren Garner
11	Kevin Hill
09	Lee Thorpe
10	Jo Kuffour 84'

Subs:

02	Matthew Hockley 84'
08	Alan Connell
16	Paul D Robinson
19	Anthony Lloyd
26	Morike Sako

Stats:

Wrexham

Starting XI:

13	Michael Jones
18	Shaun Pejic
08	Danny Williams
06	Dennis Lawrence
20	Simon Spender
16	Matt Crowell 63'
17	Mark Jones 78'
10	Darren Ferguson
03	Alex Smith 90'
09	Jon Walters
14	Matt Derbyshire

Subs:

12	Dean Bennett 78'
15	Lee Roche
22	Matty Done 63'
25	Mike Williams 90'
27	Sam Williams

Stats:

Match Notes

Other Match Reports

BBC: Torquay 1-0 Wrexham

TEAMtalk: Dragons undone by strugglers

Torquay United FC: Torquay United v Wrexham

Wrexham AFC: Torquay United 1 Wrexham 0

Wrexham MAD: Torquay United 1 Wrexham 0

League 2 Results

Grimsby 1 Cheltenham 0 (Friday)
Bristol Rovers 3 Boston United 1
Chester 0 Barnet 0
Darlington 2 Bury 3
Lincoln City 1 Leyton Orient 1
Mansfield 1 Carlisle 1
Notts County 1 Rochdale 1
Oxford United 1 Northampton 3
Peterborough 3 Macclesfield 2
Rushden & Diamonds 1 Wycombe 3
Stockport 3 Shrewsbury 1
Torquay 0 Wrexham 0

League 2 Table

Next Game

Oxford United (h), Coca Cola League 2

Saturday 29 April 2006, Kick Off @ 15:00