Wrexham 1

Simon Spender

Final

 

Wednesday 29 March 2006

 

Kick Off @ 18:45

 

Swansea City 2

Danny Williams (og), Rory Fallon



Match Report

Swansea reclaimed their Premier Cup crown and £100,000 prize money with a repeat of last season’s final victory over Wrexham. The Swans dominated the first period and got the vital goals when they were on top. Wrexham looked down at out at half time but the introduction of Simon Spender pegged Swansea back after the break and Wrexham had opportunities to equalise long before substitute Spender’s goal made it a nervous ending for the defending champions.

Danny WilliamsIt was a scrappy opening to the game and at least twenty minutes had gone by before the first shot on target was registered when Derbyshire fired at Gueret from a tight angle on the right side of the area.

Swansea then turned up the pressure and overran the Wrexham midfield and deservedly took the lead midway through the first half. Dean Bennett was struggling to contain Andy Robinson down the Swansea left but the visitors opened the scoring with a move down the opposite flank. Leon Britton was played in behind Lawrence and after he reached the touch line his cut back was turned in at the near post by Wrexham’s Danny Williams.

Swansea soon doubled their advantage when Lee Trundle was allowed time to fire in a shot from the left side of the area that Ingham could only parry into the path of Fallon. Despite only being in the six yard box, the former Swindon striker made a meal of his first goal for the club by only just scrambling the ball into the empty net.

Swansea continued to dominate the first half and Wrexham’s failure to pick up at the shot corner almost allowed O’Learly an opportunity to make it three-nil but Wrexham struck back in the second half following the introduction of Spender.

Simon SpenderSpender’s presence stemmed the attacks down the Wrexham right and he was always an option in attack to deliver crosses in from the flank. Danny Williams had the first opportunity after the break but he could only steer his header off target.

Swansea had the perfect chance to but the game out of sight when they broke quickly on the counter attack but Fallon wasted the opportunity to make the game safe. This prompted a fight back from Wrexham with Gueret finally forced into making some saves.

Holt connected well with a Spender cross but Gueret pulled off a good save and he topped this soon after by denying Sam Williams with a tip over at the back post.

Wrexham introduced Walters for Ferguson with Sam Williams dropping back into midfield and it was the presence of Walters that forced the throw in that Wrexham pulled a goal back from.

Holt’s long throw was missed by all players in the crowded area and when the ball broke to Spender he made no mistake with a low volley that fired past Gueret at his near post.

Wrexham continued to press in the final ten minutes but their only chance came in stoppage time when Danny Williams headed wide from a cross by Spender from the right wing.

Swansea retained their trophy but Wrexham at least put up a fight in the second half and it all could have been different if Wrexham had scored early on in the second half.

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "It was difficult not to improve in the second half. If you don't play for 90 minutes, you don't win it's as simple as that. You've got to play for the full 90 minutes to get something. I was not impressed with the first-half, when we seemed to find it hard to motivate ourselves. It shouldn't be necessary to speak to the players like I did at half-time. A few things were said during the break, and we didn't look like the same team in the second-half but that doesn't make me feel any better. The last thing that we needed tonight was extra time, and with the game against Grimsby coming up on Saturday, I left both Darren Ferguson and Mark Jones on longer than I wanted to originally. Nothing good came out of the game tonight, but I want promotion at the end of the season. Playing so many games is not ideal preparation to achieve something." [Source: Wrexham AFC - click here for more]

 

Kenny Jackett: "That was a big night for Rory and he's done well. We've been pleased with him, he's young and is going to be a very good forward for the club. We knew Wrexham would make it tough for us, but we got the job done and now there's another cup final to look forward to on Sunday." [Source: BBC Sport]


Leon Britton: "They made us work in the second half and we were hanging on at the end. We knew they were a good team, the first goal was so important for us.  Then it was great for Rory to score, we've all been wanting him to get off the mark. All the lads have had belief in him, hopefully that's the first of many." [Source: BBC Sport]

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01 Michael Ingham
18 Shaun Pejic
08 Danny Williams
06 Dennis Lawrence
12 Dean Bennett 45'
16 Matt Crowell
17 Mark Jones 76'
10 Darren Ferguson 70'
07 Andy Holt
27 Sam Williams
14 Matt Derbyshire

Subs:

09 Jon Walters 70'
13 Michael Jones (GK)
19 Levi Mackin 76'
20 Simon Spender 45'
25 Mike Williams

Swansea City

Starting XI:

27 Willy Gueret
05 Alan Tate
17 Keith Lowe
16 Gary Monk
02 Sam Ricketts
04 Kristian O'Leary
23 Owain Tudor Jones
07 Leon Britton
10 Lee Trundle
29 Rory Fallon
18 Andy Robinson 82'

Subs:

06 Roberto Martinez 82'
09 Adebayo Akinfenwa
11 Adrian Forbes
15 Tom Williams
24 Leon Knight

Match Notes

Venue Racecourse Ground
Attendance 3,032
Half Time Wrexham 0 Swansea City 2
Referee Ceri Richards (Llanelli)

Other Match Reports

Watch highlights of the game


BBC: Cup heartache for Wrexham


Swansea City FC: Wrexham 1 Swans 2


Wrexham AFC: Wrexham 1 Swansea 2

Next Match

Grimsby Town, Coca Cola League 2

Saturday, 01 April 2006, Kick off @ 15:00