Wrexham 1

Josh Johnson 45'

Accrington Stanley 3

Paul Mullin 17' David Brown 83' 86'

Monday 01 January 2007

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Match Report
There has been talk of chasing a play off spot in recent weeks but Wrexham must surely realise that they are in a relegation battle after this comprehensive defeat at home to Accrington Stanley.

Accrington opened the scoring midway through the first half after dominating the opening stages but Wrexham thought back to be on level terms by the break with Josh Johnson scoring his first goal for the club. The game looked like it was heading for a draw but the visitors struck twice in the final ten minutes to give the scoreline a fair reflection of the balance of play.

Wrexham fielded their first choice defence with Steve Evans back from suspension and Ryan Valentine having recovered from illness although this did mean that Mike Williams was unlucky to drop down the bench despite playing well for the last two months.

Danny Williams had failed to recover from his illness with Matt Crowell again getting a rare start in midfield alongside Darren Ferguson who was also recalled to the starting line up.

Wrexham struggled early on with Accrington enjoying the best of the ball and they made use of their wingers throughout and this frequently troubled the Wrexham defence.

James Harris was dominating proceedings in the middle and the experience of Andy Todd was always an option on the right with winger Shaun Whalley always causing problems for Wrexham down the left.

Accrington penned Wrexham back from the off, forcing a succession of corners and they almost opened the scoring when from their second in quick succession. The ball was curled into the near post where Welch was left unmarked but he could only head down in the ground and it bounced over the bar.

Matt Crowell picked up the game’s first caution for a late challenge on Harris and the resulting free kick was headed wide but it did not take much longer for the visitors to open the scoring.

Shaun Whalley was superb for the visitors down the left wing and he got the better of Roche and delivered a good ball into the near post that Steve Evans headed against his own bar but Paul Mullin reacted the quickest to the rebound to score from close range.

This was no more than Accrington deserved and they almost doubled their advantage when a dangerous free kick from Whalley was glanced goalwards and Lee Roche did well to scramble the ball behind for a corner at the back post.

Another set play from Whalley caused problems in the Wrexham defence but they at least came into the game at the other end of the pitch with half an hour gone.

Matt Crowell went the closest with a well struck free kick that just cleared the bar but Wrexham did equalise on the stroke of half time.

Michael Ingham delivered a huge kick forward and Johnson battled with Richardson on the edge of the area. The Accrington defender lost his footing on the wet surface and this gave Johnson the space he required to steer the ball past Elliot for his first goal in a Wrexham shirt.

For the third successive game, Wrexham replaced Marc Williams at the half time break with Lee McEvilly coming on for the second half.

Wrexham started positively following the restart and Shaun Pejic should have done better with a free header that he put wide from a Ferguson corner that was won following good approach play by Llewellyn.

Wrexham continued to enjoy the better of the second half but the best chance fell to the visitors when Mullen skipped past Ingham on the edge of the area but the Wrexham defence covered back and forced the ball behind for a corner.

Steve Evans was grateful to see just a yellow card from Mike Dean after he brought down Whalley on the edge of the area after the winger had cut inside to go past Roche and Pejic with ease.

Accrington began to come more into the game and Mullen should have done better at the back post after he was picked out by Todd on the right but the Accrington striker fired wide of the far post. Ingham was then forced into making a save from Whalley after the winger had cut in from the left touchline.

Wrexham were pushing forward but only looked threatening from set plays and Shaun Pejic should have done better when he turned a knock down by Steve Evans over from ten yards out.

Lee McEvilly was then played in by Steve Evans down the left channel but his attempted chip from inside of the area failed to clear Elliott who took a simple catch.

Wrexham did have the ball in the back of the net but this was ruled out when the referee pulled back play following a challenge by McEvilly that left the Accrington defender and goalkeeper flat out on the edge of the area. The contact on the keeper came from his own defender but the referee ruled that McEvilly had pushed the defender into his own keeper.

Wrexham made a double substitution for the final fifteen minutes with Darren Ferguson and Josh Johnson being replaced by Kevin Smith and Mike Williams. Williams went to left back with Valentine switching flanks to the right and this allowed Lee Roche to take Ferguson’s place in midfield.

The game exploded in the last ten minutes and Accrington should have been down to ten men when Williams hauled down substitute Kevin Smith on edge of the area but referee Mike Dean unbelievably waved play on!

Accrington almost broke at the other end with Ingham forced into making a good save from Brown but with seven minutes left the visitors scored the crucial second with Brown this time getting the better of Ingham with a cool finish from inside of the area.

Wrexham almost struck back when Smith picked out McEvilly who fired a fierce volley that the keeper could only palm away but the game was over with four minutes left the when Whalley was brought down by Roche in the box.

There were no complaints about the penalty that Ingham saved well to deny Todd but Ingham’s efforts were in vein as none of his outfield players followed up and Brown had a simple tap in for his second of the afternoon.

There were chances for either side in the time remaining but Wrexham soon left the field to a chorus of boos and they were lucky to get that!

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "No ifs or buts, the team that deserved to win today took the victory. We are constantly looking at the league table from the off. You know that you need your fifty-odd points to get yourself safe and you are always looking to make sure that you can get away from the bottom, it would be stupid not to. The conditions weren't great but that was the same for both sides. There are no excuses; they looked like they wanted it more and they got what they deserved." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here fore more]

 

John Coleman: "The lads realised how important it was to pick up the points and they did what was required to secure the win. We only had 12 fit pros available today and four youth players on the bench, but I would have had no hesitation in putting them on. You have to trust them, otherwise what's the point of having them on the bench in the first place." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here fore more]

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01 Michael Ingham
02 Lee Roche
04 Shaun Pejic
05 Steve Evans
03 Ryan Valentine
17 Josh Johnson 78'
12 Matt Crowell
10 Darren Ferguson 78'
20 Matty Done
21 Marc Williams 45'
11 Chris Llewellyn

Subs:

09 Lee McEvilly 45'
13 Michael Jones (GK)
15 Mike Williams 78'
24 Gareth Evans
25 Kevin Smith 78'

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 8
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 4
Possession: 58%
Fouls Conceded: 16
Corners: 5
Yellow Cards: 3
Red Cards: 0

Accrington Stanley

Starting XI:

01 Robert Elliot
24 Ricky Barnes
04 Robbie Williams
05 Michael Welch
03 Leam Richardson
17 Andy Todd
20 James Harris
06 Andrew Proctor
27 Shaun Whalley
10 Paul Mullin
18 David Brown

Subs:

28 Joe Jacobson
32 Andy Smith
33 James Bell
34 Peter Murphy
35 Martin Fearon (GK)

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 10
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 6
Possession: 42%
Fouls Conceded: 9
Corners: 8
Yellow Cards: 1
Red Cards: 0

Match Notes
Venue Racecourse Ground
Attendance 3,805
Half Time Wrexham 1 Accrington Stanley 1
Referee Mike Dean (Wirral)

Other Match Reports

Wrexham Dragons: Final Whistle Podcast

BBC: Wrexham 1-3 Accrington

TEAMtalk: Stanley stay out of drop zone

Wrexham FC: Wrexham 1 Accrington Stanley 3

Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 1 Accrington Stanley 3

League 2 Results

Boston United 2 Barnet 1
Bristol Rovers 1 Torquay 0
Bury v Darlington - Match Postponed
Grimsby 0 Rochdale 4
Macclesfield 2 Lincoln City 1
Mansfield 0 Hartlepool 1
Milton Keynes Dons 0 Swindon 1
Notts County 1 Chester 2
Peterborough 0 Walsall 2
Shrewsbury 4 Stockport 2
Wrexham 1 Accrington Stanley 3
Wycombe 0 Hereford 0

League 2 Table
   
PLD
GD
PTS
1 Walsall 26 25 56
2 Milton Keynes Dons 26 15 51
3 Lincoln City 26 17 50
4 Swindon 26 13 50
5 Hartlepool 26 11 47
6 Wycombe 26 7 42
7 Peterborough 26 0 38
8 Hereford 26 0 37
9 Bristol Rovers 26 -1 36
10 Shrewsbury 25 11 35
11 Stockport 26 0 35
12 Notts County 26 0 35
13 Barnet 26 -6 34
14 Bury 25 0 33
15 Chester 25 -1 33
16 Darlington 25 -5 30
17 Grimsby 26 -19 29
18 Wrexham 25 -16 28
19 Rochdale 26 -1 27
20 Mansfield 24 -6 27
21 Boston United 26 -11 27
22 Accrington Stanley 25 -7 26
23 Macclesfield 26 -10 26
24 Torquay 26 -16 20

Next Game

Derby County (a), FA Cup Third Round

Saturday 06 January 2007, Kick Off @ 15:00