Wrexham 1

Mark Jones 42'

Grimsby Town 2

Michael Reddy 52' Glen Downey 84'

Saturday 31 December 2005

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Match Report
Wrexham fail to take their chances as ref loses the plot
By: Mark Williams

PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS: Full of confidence after the Boxing Day win over Rochdale and we cannot afford to drop points to a team nine points ahead of us in the table.

CONDITIONS: Mild and damp

SUM UP OUR PERFORMANCE IN ONE SENTENCE: Dominated the game from start to finish but again failed to take our chances.

TURNING POINT: Conceding the late winner from a set piece gave Grimsby something to hold onto.

MAIN INCIDENTS AND GOALS:

Wrexham started the first half where they left off against Rochdale and took the game to the visitors. Despite Grimsby being restricted to a couple of attacks in the opening fifteen minutes, Wrexham were unable to create any chances from open play with the closest they came was when Dennis Lawrence had two free headers from corners that both missed the target. The closest Grimsby came to troubling Wrexham was also from a corner when Ramsden placed a header wide at the back post.

Mark JonesWrexham were dominating the midfield with Crowell and Roche breaking down the Grimsby attacks and this only invited more pressure onto the visitors. Jon Walters finally got the handle of the Grimsby offside trap with thirty minutes gone and Wrexham started to created chances from open play.

Andy Holt almost broke clear on the edge of the box but a Grimsby defender managed to flick the ball off the wing-back's foot. Ferguson then picked out Walters with a good through ball but the striker failed to hit the target from the edge of the area after shifting the ball on the outside of the defender.

Holt broke clear down the left with five minuets of the half left but his low centre was behind the four Wrexham players who had made it into the area. Wrexham did not have to wait long for the opening goal as Mark Jones broke the deadlock a minute later. It was a simple goal in the end as Jon Walters headed back Mike Ingham’s long clearance into the path of Jones and the Wales Under 21 international lashed home into the bottom corner with his left foot from the outside of the area.

 

I can't believe we got nothing from the game

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Wrexham continued where they left off after the break and forced an early corner that Lawrence flicked to the back post but Bayliss was denied from close range when a defender blocked his shot away.

Despite this positive start Wrexham were rocked within five minutes when Michael Reddy was given the freedom of Wrexham’s right flank to collect Cohen’s pass. The striker advanced twenty yards into the area and still unchallenged he finished past Ingham with a cultured shot.

Mark Jones had a couple of chances to regain Wrexham the lead, the first when a high ball from Ferguson set him free down the right but his chip over the keeper narrowly missed the back post. The second was from a corner and Ferguson again picked him out but his first time volley was goal bound until a defender got in the way.

Grimsby were having more of the game since their goal and there were a few nervous moments in the Wrexham defence when a low cross from the right flashed across the six yard box without anybody getting a touch.

With twenty minutes left Ferguson again picked out Mark Jones in the box and he was denied when his low shot struck the post. Jones tried to reach the rebound but he got tangled up with the defender and despite penalty appeals from the Kop the referee wasn’t interested.

Jones then picked out Walters with a defence splitting pass and almost got onto Walters cross back but narrowly missed the ball sliding in at the back post. A simple ball over the top sent Walters clean through but a defender tracked his run and deflected Walters’ shot behind for a corner, which came to nothing.

Wrexham were again rocked with six minutes left when Grimsby were awarded a soft free kick after Reddy went down on the touchline on the left wing. The free kick was swung into the six yard box and with Ingham stuck to his spot Downey converted the cross with a close range header.

The referee then completely lost it when Bollard went down with a head injury following a challenge by Holt. With Bollard rolling around as if he was shot Holt obviously said some healing words as all of a sudden a miracle happened as Bollard was back on his feet squaring up to Holt! In the end the referee showed Bollard a second yellow card and then a red before his linesman informed him that he had not already booked him! Amidst farcical scenes Bollard was then welcomed back on the pitch by the embarrassed referee.

Danny WilliamsDarren Deadman did have his red card out in injury time when Danny Williams was fouled by Reddy who then pushed the Wrexham defender. Despite Williams not doing anything wrong both players ended up in the book and this time Deadman correctly remembered he had booked Williams in the opening ten minutes and showed the defender a red card. Wrexham had a free kick at the death but Crowell fired over.

There was still more incident to come when three ‘fans’ ran on the pitch from the Kop with one of them attacking the Grimsby keeper, which will probably see Wrexham at least picking up a hefty fine from the Welsh FA.

OPPOSITION AND FANS: Grimsby had to soak up a lot of pressure and scored with their only shots on target. On this performance it is difficult to work out how they are 12 points clear of Wrexham but they certainly have a resilient defence. Considering they are second in the league it was disappointing that under 150 fans made the trip from the east coast.

OFFICIALS: Up to the last ten minutes the referee was in control of the game with the only annoyance being he blew his whistle too quickly on a couple of occasions with Wrexham in promising attacking positions. He then lost all sense sending a player off for a second yellow card despite not booking him before hand. He then compounded matters sending off Danny Williams for a second yellow card when he was on the receiving end of a foul and a push from Reddy.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Lee Roche – played well as the holding midfield player and broke down a lot of Grimsby attacks.

IF YOU WERE DENIS SMITH: Bite my tongue after that referee otherwise I will end up with a fine! This game again reinforced that we need a striker to put away the chances with McEvilly out for two months.  

Match Reaction

Darren Ferguson: "The referee ruined the game"

 

Denis Smith: "There was only team which wanted to play. The others didn't want to and the result went the wrong way. There were certain things that went on out there that I'm not happy about. You saw it and you report it!" [Source: Wrexham AFC]

 

Russell Slade: "Wrexham started much the brighter side - I certainly think that has a lot to do with the fact that this is our third game in six days, it was only their second game and it was a very flat performance from us. We deserved to be a goal down, if not 2. It wasn't until we got the equaliser that we got some kind of rhythm going and perhaps got in the game. The chances were still going Wrexham's way but there was some resilient defending from players that are not used to playing at the back. I'm obviously delighted with the three points but I think that we are a bit fortunate to get all three points. When we battled so hard in that second period, with a makeshift back-four, perhaps somebody was looking down on us and said that we deserved a bit of luck here today." [Source: Grimsby Town FC]

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01 Michael Ingham
04 Dave Bayliss
08 Danny Williams
06 Dennis Lawrence
15 Lee Roche
16 Matt Crowell
17 Mark Jones
10 Darren Ferguson
07 Andy Holt
09 Jon Walters
12 Dean Bennett 76'

Subs:

05 Paul Warhurst 76'
13 Michael Jones (GK)
14 Robbie Foy
18 Shaun Pejic
25 Mike Williams

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 13
Shots on Target: 5
Shots off Target: 8
Possession: 53%
Fouls Conceded: 10
Corners: 13
Yellow Cards: 2
Red Cards: 1

Grimsby Town

Starting XI:

01 Steve Mitchell
20 Gary Croft 75'
04 Simon Ramsden 50'
12 Robert James 45'
03 Tom Newey
15 Gary Cohen
08 Paul Bollard
18 Ciaran Toner
11 Andy Parkinson
19 Gary Jones
09 Michael Reddy

Subs:

07 Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala 75'
10 Marton Gritton 45'
17 Glen Downey 50'
22 Andy Taylor
23 Nick Hegarty

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 5
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 3
Possession: 47%
Fouls Conceded: 14
Corners: 3
Yellow Cards: 3
Red Cards: 0

Match Notes
Venue Racecourse Ground
Attendance 4,527
Half Time Wrexham 1 Grimsby Town 0
Referee Darren Deadman (Cheshunt)

Other Match Reports

BBC: Wrexham 1-2 Grimsby

Electronic Fish Cake: Town Slay Dragons

Grimsby Town FC: "Invisible Man" Town Hero!

TEAMtalk: Williams off in dragons loss

Wrexham AFC: Wrexham 1 Grimsby 2

Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 1 Grimsby Town 2

League 2 Results

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

League 2 Table
Pos Team Pld GD Pts
4 Carlisle United 24 11 41
5 Cheltenham Town 25 3 40
6 Northampton Town 24 10 38
7 Wrexham 24 8 34
8 Chester City 24 6 33
9 Rochdale 24 1 33
10 Peterborough United 24 5 32
11 Bristol Rovers 25 -9 32
12 Darlington 24 3 31
13 Boston United 24 -1 30
14 Lincoln City 25 -2 30
15 Barnet 25 -6 30
16 Notts County 24 -8 30
17 Oxford United 24 -3 29
18 Macclesfield Town 24 -4 28
19 Bury 22 -1 27
20 Mansfield Town 24 -3 27
21 Shrewsbury Town 23 -4 26
22 Torquay United 24 -14 23
23 Rushden and Diamonds 24 -16 22
24 Stockport County 23 -23 17

Next Game

Shrewsbury Town (a), Coca Cola League 2

Tuesday 03 January 2006, Kick Off @ 19:45