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Match Report |
A superb second half performance from
Wrexham secured their passage into the third round of the FA Cup for the
first time under Denis Smith.
After containing Scunthorpe, who occupy second place in league one,
during the first half, a dominant display following the restart
culminated with a fine goal from Mark Jones and the first for Kevin
Smith in a Wrexham shirt.
The Irons had no response to Wrexham’s battling display and the
introduction of returning strikers Lee McEvilly and Juan Ugarte late on
rounded off a good day for the 350+ travelling support.
Wrexham kept the same team that defeated Lincoln last weekend and the
Scunthorpe side showed one change with Ian Morris returning to replace
Jim Goodwin on the left wing.
In an even start to the game it was Wrexham who had the first shot on
goal after Steve Evans delivered the ball forward that Kevin Smith
latched onto and he made Murphy pull off a good save with a low shot to
the near post.
Scunthorpe’s main threat came from Cleveland Taylor down the right wing
and after he skipped past Mike Williams his cross was not fully cleared
but Shaun Pejic this time made no mistake when the ball was returned
back in by Morris.
Chris Llewellyn and Kevin Smith looked lively up front but were caught
offside too often to allow Wrexham have any sustained pressure on the
Scunthorpe defence but the offside flag did come to Wrexham’s rescue
when Hinds converted from a corner in the eighteenth minute.
Josh Johnson and Mike Williams were both guilty of conceding possession
inside their own half and from the latter incident the Wrexham defence
struggled to clear the danger whilst on the back foot.
In a nervous five minutes for Wrexham they struggled to deal with a
corner on the half hour mark but Scunthorpe failed to make the most of
their opportunity with the Wrexham fans behind the goal looking on
nervously as the ball was eventually cleared.
With the first half entering the final five minutes Scunthorpe had a
couple of chances to break the deadlock. Taylor was involved in both
incidents and after he beat the presence of Mike Williams a superb
covering challenge from Lee Roche was required to avert the danger.
With two minutes of the half left, Taylor was played in behind Williams
but after his cross back was headed back by Sharp into the path of
Keogh, he could only blast high and wide from the edge of the area.
The half ended goalless but despite for all the endeavour from both
sides, the final ball was lacking and this meant it was a comfortable
forty five minutes for both goalkeepers.
This trend did not continue in the second half for Scunthorpe’s
goalkeeper as Wrexham opened the scoring within four minutes of the
restart.
Josh Johnson started the second half with a positive run and he won a
free kick after he was brought down about twenty five yards from goal.
Ferguson floated the ball in but Murphy came and collected the ball
before it reached Steve Evans.
Murphy ruined his save when he carelessly gave the ball away to Mark
Jones following a poor clearance. The Wales international advanced ten
yards and let fly with an unstoppable low left footed shot from thirty
yards out that flew past Murphy into the bottom corner of the net.
Michael Ingham was called into action just after the hour mark after
Scunthorpe built up with a good move down the right. Taylor was again
involved for the home side and he picked out top scorer Sharp but Ingham
followed his shot all the way to save at the base of the near post.
Three minutes later and Wrexham got the crucial second goal in the sixty
sixth minute. Wrexham forced a corner down the right that Ferguson
delivered into the box. Steve Evans won the header that he diverted
goalwards and Kevin Smith was on hand to hook the ball past Murphy with
the linesman awarding the goal despite the efforts of a Scunthorpe
player on the line.
Scunthorpe made a double substitution following Wrexham’s second goal
but the next chance fell to Mark Jones who went close to doubling his
tally for the afternoon.
The chance was created by Jones after he skipped past two players on the
right touch line and Murphy did well to block the goal bound shot
although if Jones had looked up he would have noticed Chris Llewellyn in
space on the edge of the area waiting for the pull back.
Wrexham replaced goalscorer Kevin Smith with Lee McEvilly for the final
fifteen minutes and he announced his arrival with a booking after
colliding with a Scunthorpe defender.
By this time, Scunthorpe had another goal ruled out for offside after
Keogh converted Taylor’s cross from the right with a diving header.
The only nervous moment Wrexham had was when Sharp headed over at the
death and the day got even better when Juan Ugarte came on during the
four minutes of injury time for Josh Johnson. |
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "I am not a betting man but when I saw
the odds were 5-1 against us winning, even I was tempted to have a flutter.
We have beaten a very good side. I was impressed with Scunthorpe, even
today. They have the best two strikers outside the Championship in Sharp and
Andy Keogh, but my two centre halves kept them quiet. To come here and win
2-0 is an excellent performance but I know we can still play even better."
[Source:
Iron-Bru.net]
Ian Adkins: "We have a very disappointed dressing
room. We have enjoyed some big third round ties in the past few seasons and
wanted to be there again. We felt this was a game we could win, but we could
not final the quality in the final third that we have shown all season. Take
nothing away from Wrexham they worked very hard for their victory."
[Source:
Iron-Bru.net] |
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Scunthorpe United |
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Starting XI:
| 01 |
Joe Murphy |
| 06 |
Cliff Byrne |
| 04 |
Andy Crosby |
| 12 |
Stephen Foster |
| 05 |
Richard Hinds
 72' |
| 15 |
Cleveland Taylor |
| 07 |
Matthew Sparrow |
| 11 |
Ian Baraclough |
| 27 |
Ian Morris
 67' |
| 24 |
Billy Sharp |
| 19 |
Andrew Keogh |
Subs:
| 02 |
Dave Mulligan |
| 08 |
Jim Goodwin |
| 10 |
Steve Torpey
 67' |
| 17 |
Marcus Williams
 72' |
| 22 |
Josh Lillis (GK) |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
9 |
| Shots on Target: |
3 |
| Shots off Target: |
6 |
| Possession: |
% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
13 |
| Corners: |
6 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Glanford Park |
| Attendance |
5.054 |
| Half Time |
Scunthorpe United 0 Wrexham 0 |
| Referee |
Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) |
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Second
Round
