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Match Report |
Defensive indecision proves costly
PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS: This will be a difficult game but after
beating Wycombe at home, confidence should be high.
CONDITIONS: Cold and dry.
SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE: We could not turn our
possession into chances and paid for a defensive mix up.
TURNING POINT: Northampton’s goal as the game had nil-nil written
all over it up until this point.
MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS:
Northampton started the strongest with Wrexham finding it difficult to
gain any possession in the opposition’s half. Northampton's best chance
fell to Kirk when he was played in on the edge of the area and Ingham
did well to block the shot at the feet of the striker. The ball broke
kindly for Crowe after it escaped the clutches of Ingham but Dennis
Lawrence tracked back well to clear his shot off the line.
The best Wrexham could muster was a mazy run from Mark Jones that
started just inside his own half. The midfielder, who is joining up with
the Wales squad after the game, advanced to the edge of the Northampton
area but his toe poked effort lacked any power to trouble Harper in the
visitor’s goal.
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We didn't create enough to score
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From wrecsam_am_byth
Have your say |
The first half lacked any clear cut chances of note with Wrexham only
creating one chance for Derbyshire from open play, after he had just
been thwarted by an eagled eyed linesman who flagged for a goal kick
following a neat run along the by line.
A ball was played down the left channel with the pace of the on loan
Blackburn striker taking him away from the Northampton defence.
Derbyshire collected the ball on the corner of the area but he rushed
his shot with the ball travelling harmlessly across the face of goal.
Apart from this Wrexham only ever looked dangerous from a Matt Crowell's
free kick and Andy Holt’s long throws as Northampton failed to clear the
balls in, often allowing them to bounce in the box but despite this
Wrexham failed to register any shots to trouble Harper.
The second half continued in a similar pattern to the first and it
became obvious that the first goal of the game would prove to be the
winner, as both defences remained on top.
 The first chance of the second half fell to Northampton after a strange
looping back pass from Mark Jones was collected by the retreating
McGleish. The linesman flagged the striker offside but the referee
correctly waived play on although McGleish failed to control the ball at the first opportunity and the Wrexham defence got back to clear.
At the other end of the pitch Derbyshire again used his pace to nip in
behind the defence but after beating the keeper he was forced too wide
and could only cross the ball back into the arms of the grateful Harper.
Midway through the second half and hesitancy from Danny Williams
resulted in the only goal of the game. A ball was played over the top of
Williams on the edge of the area and with McGleish chasing him down
Ingham retreated back to his six yard line. Williams allowed the ball to
bounce and this was enough for McGleish to nip in ahead of him and
he lobbed the ball past Ingham into an empty net.
If anything this goal galvanised Northampton and Ingham had to pull off
two good saves to keep Wrexham in the game. Danny Williams was again the
culprit failing to cut out Jess’ through ball but Ingham did well to
deny McGleish by diving at the feet of the striker. Within a couple of
minutes a ball was delivered in from the right wing to the far post where McGlesih stooped low ahead of Pejic but his header lacked any power and
Ingham smothered the ball at the back post.
Wrexham introduced Matty Done and Levi Mackin and although Done did well
with some decent crosses from the left wing, Wrexham failed to carve out
any openings with Mark Jones going the closest when his volley
drifted wide of the post.
OPPOSITION: A well organised team and it is easy to see why they
are rated as one of the favourites for promotion this season
OFFICIALS: Never had many big decisions to make as it was not a
dirty game.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Not one Wrexham player stood out with Shaun
Pejic edging out Dennis Lawrence.
IF YOU WERE DENIS SMITH: We need some width to get in behind
teams that block our route through midfield.
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "It's been decided by a bad mistake. It
was just a lump down the middle when we had them pressed back. For the first
twenty minutes they showed us why they are doing so well, but after that I
thought we got the measure of them. In the second half I thought we started
on top and then we get done by a schoolboy goal. You can't allow goals to be
scored like that at any level and it cost us. We looked strong defensively
in general, but Danny's got to deal with it or the keeper's got to come.
Mike Ingham made two great saves afterwards but obviously the game changes
once we had to start chasing it. It's frustrating because 0-0 would have
possibly been the right result against a very good side. The lads who were
involved know what happened. What can they say? They've put their hands up
because they know they've made mistakes. If there were no mistakes then
every game would end 0-0. Unfortunately it was a bad mistake, but they don't
do it deliberately They're good professionals and hopefully they will learn
from it. Perhaps you've seen the start of a young lad's good career with
Matty Done coming on. You saw why everyone speaks so highly of him because
he brought us a bit of quality when he came on. We're extremely young,
though. Matty Derbyshire should have pulled the ball back to give Sam
Williams a tap-in into an open goal, and then we go 1-0 up, but we can't
expect miracles from young lads. What we proved today, I think, is that we
deserve to be up there with these teams. I've said all along that they're a
top team, and really we should have come out of our two games with them with
two 0-0s. It was disappointing to lose the game in the manner that we did,
having defended so well. If we'd let an early goal in when they were playing
so well then perhaps you could have lived with it, but to lose to a really
bad mistake like that from a long boot down the middle? If it had been the
Under-12s I'd have been jumping up and down and unhappy! Matty Crowell was a
tactical thing but then when I put Danny Williams into midfield he started
to feel the pace, as you could see. He's been ill the last couple of days
and that was why he came off. Matty was just a change of system. We had to
try something different so we went to four at the back and three up with
Matty Done on the left to hopefully make a difference. You've got to try and
change it when you're behind." [Source:
Wrexham AFC]
Colin Calderwood: "It was a hugely important victory.
Of all the fixture the top 5 had this weekend I think ours was recognised as
the toughest game but the lads put in an excellent performance, especially
in the first half. We were dominant for most of that first half. Wrexham
have a super home record and you need a lot about you to come and win here,
especially with the players we were missing today. I still think Wrexham
will be in contention for promotion at the end of the season and that is why
this is such a huge result. Gavin Johnson and Jason Crowe were outstanding,
especially in the first half, and so were the midfield two in front of them.
Jamie Hand and David Hunt did the simple things well but not many people may
have noticed their tremendous work rate. When we keep things simple we look
a very good side and I saw a lot of what we worked on in training come out
in our play. The other teams in the top 5 won today but there is no point
worrying about that. All we can do is do our jobs. Andy Kirk went off
injured but we re-grouped and the togetherness of the squad was there for
all to see. Ryan Gilligan came on for Andy and showed great persistence for
the goal. This is the sort of result and performance that keeps you heading
in the right direction and I felt the result was fully deserved. Andy Kirk
has twisted his ankle. He wanted to strap it up and carry on but when we
took his sock off it was already very swollen so we took him off and iced it
up straight away. We honestly don't know how long he is out for and we might
not know for a few days yet. He has ligament damage to an extent but we
don't know how much damage. If I am honest Andy will be a big doubt for next
weekend but we don't know too and we will have to wait and see."
[Source:
Northampton Town FC] |
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Wrexham |
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Starting XI:
| 01 |
Michael Ingham |
| 18 |
Shaun Pejic |
| 08 |
Danny Williams
83' |
| 06 |
Dennis Lawrence |
| 20 |
Simon Spender |
| 02 |
Jim Whitley |
| 17 |
Mark Jones |
| 16 |
Matt Crowell
74' |
| 07 |
Andy Holt |
| 14 |
Matt Derbyshire |
| 27 |
Sam Williams |
Subs:
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 19 |
Levi Mackin
83' |
| 21 |
Marc Williams |
| 22 |
Matty Done
74' |
| 25 |
Mike Williams |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
9 |
| Shots on Target: |
3 |
| Shots off Target: |
6 |
| Possession: |
59% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
8 |
| Corners: |
4 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
| Attendance |
5,012 |
| Half Time |
Wrexham 0 Northampton 0 |
| Referee |
Lee Probert (Gloucestershire) |
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Other Match Reports |
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BBC: Wrexham 0-1 Northampton
Northampton Town FC: Injury hit Cobblers equal club record
with latest victory
TEAMtalk: Cobblers slay dragons
Wrexham AFC: Wrexham 0 Northampton 1
Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 0 Northampton Town 1 |
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League 2 Results |
|
Barnet 1 Carlisle 2
Cheltenham 1 Rochdale 1
Grimsby 1 Chester 0
Leyton Orient 1 Darlington 0
Lincoln City 2 Notts County 1
Peterborough 1 Bristol Rovers 2
Rushden & Diamonds 1 Macclesfield 0
Shrewsbury 0 Bury 1
Stockport 0 Boston United 1
Torquay 0 Mansfield 2
Wrexham 0 Northampton 1
Wycombe 2 Oxford United 1 |
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League 2 Table |
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Pos |
Team |
Pld
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GD
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Pts
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|
1 |
Carlisle |
35 |
28 |
62 |
|
2 |
Wycombe |
35 |
21 |
62 |
|
3 |
Northampton |
35 |
20 |
60 |
|
4 |
Grimsby |
34 |
19 |
60 |
|
5 |
Leyton Orient |
34 |
10 |
58 |
|
6 |
Peterborough |
35 |
11 |
52 |
|
7 |
Lincoln City |
35 |
7 |
52 |
| 8 |
Cheltenham |
34 |
4 |
51 |
| 9 |
Bristol Rovers |
35 |
-6 |
50 |
| 10 |
Darlington |
35 |
7 |
46 |
| 11 |
Wrexham |
32 |
11 |
45 |
| 12 |
Boston United |
34 |
-2 |
45 |
| 13 |
Shrewsbury |
35 |
-1 |
44 |
| 14 |
Notts County |
35 |
-10 |
43 |
| 15 |
Mansfield |
35 |
-5 |
41 |
| 16 |
Rochdale |
32 |
-2 |
40 |
| 17 |
Macclesfield |
34 |
-8 |
39 |
| 18 |
Oxford United |
34 |
-11 |
37 |
| 19 |
Chester |
33 |
-7 |
36 |
| 20 |
Barnet |
33 |
-11 |
36 |
| 21 |
Bury |
32 |
-11 |
36 |
| 22 |
Stockport |
34 |
-19 |
34 |
|
23 |
Rushden & Diamonds |
35 |
-25 |
33 |
|
24 |
Torquay |
35 |
-20 |
32 |
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Next Game |
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Barnet (h),
Coca Cola League 2
Saturday 04
March 2006, Kick Off @ 15:00 |
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90'
90'