|
Match Report |
A superb second half comeback preserved
our status as a Football League club with goals from Ryan Valentine,
Chris Llewellyn and Michael Proctor sending Boston down to the
Conference.
A 12,000 plus crowd celebrated the win but there were plenty or nerves
around as Boston headed in a goal up at half time courtesy of a strike
from Francis Green.
Wrexham failed to perform in the first half and it looked as if the
tension of the occasion getting to the players but Valentine’s equaliser
from the spot eleven minutes after half time settled everybody down.
There were more scares to come, most noticeably when Anthony Williams
and Chris Llewellyn combined to clear the ball off the line to a Paul
Ellender, who cleared the cross bar from only six yards out.
The game started in bright sunshine with Wrexham making two changes from
last week. The pre match rumours regarding Jim Whitley proved correct
with Mark Jones returning from injury in midfield and Lee McEvilly was
on the bench as Matty Done started on the left with Michael Proctor
moving up front.
There was a tense start to the game with neither side gaining control
and the only chances were coming from free kicks and corners but all
efforts failed to register on the target.
Matty Done was a useful outlet down the left throughout for Wrexham and
his ability to run fifty plus yards with the ball took the pressure off
the Wrexham defence. Too often though, his final ball was his downfall
and promising positions were wasted but he did have the game’s first
meaningful shot on goal when he cut inside and curled a right footer
narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
The game was end-to-end with Anthony Williams having to claim the ball
from underneath his bar after Boston had two free headers from a corner.
At the other end of the pitch, Neil Roberts looked to have got past the
last defender but Marriott was quickly off his line to clear into touch.
Boston were now taking control of the game and it appeared that they
always had an extra man going forward as Wrexham were now missing
challenges in crucial areas of the pitch.
Boston were awarded an indirect free kick on the edge of the area after
a Wrexham player raised his feet but the Wrexham wall blocked the route
to goal and the game remained goalless beyond the half hour mark.
The opening goal of the game came with six minutes before half time when
the Wrexham defence were opened up by a good through ball from Jamie
Clarke. Francis Green got goal side of Pejic and Green fired confidently
past Williams into the far corner of the net.
Wrexham responded well with Mark Jones drawing a good save from Marriott
and the resulting corner caused problems in the Boston area but Wrexham
failed to capitalise.
The last chance of the half came from a surging run by Matty Done but
after running half the length of the pitch, his low cross evaded
everybody in the box.
Wrexham responded well in the second half and were back on level terms
eleven minutes following the restart.
The vital breakthrough came from the spot after Danny Williams was
bundled over by Drewe Broughton after Marriott had denied Steve Evans
from Done’s corner.
Credit to Valentine, he showed no nerves at all as he stroked the ball
into the net after Marriott had gone the wrong way.
Wrexham were now rejuvenated and minutes later almost took the lead when
Marriott tipped Mark Jones’ rasping free kick onto the bar as Wrexham
won another corner.
Wrexham were now on top but set pieces looked the most likely avenue to
goal as the quality of the final ball was lacking.
Michael Proctor went close when he got to a Done corner before Marriott
but his glancing header drifted wide for a goal kick.
The turning point in the game arrived with eleven minutes left after
Boston forced a corner on the left. The ball was swung in and Drewe
Broughton’s header was first stopped by Anthony Williams with Chris
Llewellyn having to scramble the ball clear off the line.
The ball was only cleared to Ellender on the edge of the six yard box
but he fired so far over the bar, the ball cleared the top of the
scoreboard!
Wrexham took full advantage of this miss with Chris Llewellyn grabbing
the breakthrough with only three minutes left.
Boston had to win and were pushing men forward as a result, and this
allowed Llewellyn acres of space to run onto Jones’ return pass down the
right channel. Llewellyn cut inside the Boston defender and buried his
shot inside of the near post that Marriott didn’t dive for.
This sparked whiled celebrations around the ground and Chris Llewellyn
finished the game in last season’s shirt after exchanging his match
shirt with a supporter.
Llewellyn picked up a booking for his sins but this was all forgotten in
injury time as Michael Proctor put the icing on the cake with a header
past Marriot following Llewellyn’ cheeky chip inside.
The final whistle was marked with the inevitable pitch invasion but the
relief shown by all Wrexham fans told the whole story on how close we
came to going out of the league. |
|
Match Reaction |
|
Brian Carey: "I know I keep going on about this but in
the previous four games we have played with loads of freedom, we got
ourselves bound up today especially in the first half. It looked like Boston
were staying in the League and we were dropping into the Conference, which
would have been a huge crime. Credit to the players out there, they stuck at
it and got the right result. I told them at half-time that the `first half
was just shocking and that they had to wake up for the occasion, we couldn't
raise a gallop, but they responded the right way in the second half and we
were worthy winners in the end. Boston scored the goal and starting
stringing a few passes together but thankfully it wasn't enough."
[Source:
Wrexham FC - follow this link for more]
Boston Reaction can be found on this web page |
|
|
Boston United |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Andy Marriott |
| 20 |
Jamie Stevens
 |
| 24 |
Colin Cryan |
| 05 |
Mark Greaves |
| 16 |
Jamie Clarke |
| 04 |
Paul Ellender |
| 14 |
David Galbraith
76' |
| 23 |
Ernie Cooksey |
| 15 |
David Farrell |
| 09 |
Drewe Broughton |
| 10 |
Francis Green
 |
Subs:
| 06 |
Mark Albrighton |
| 07 |
Bradley Maylett
76' |
| 22 |
Ben Nunn |
| 27 |
Adam Rowntree |
| |
|
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
5 |
| Shots on Target: |
3 |
| Shots off Target: |
2 |
| Possession: |
48% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
15 |
| Corners: |
7 |
| Yellow Cards: |
1 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
|
Other Match Reports |
|
 Wrexham Dragons: Final Whistle
Podcast
BBC:
Wrexham 3-1 Boston
Boston United FC: Pilgrims suffer relegation heartbreak
TEAMtalk: Wrexham relegate troubled Pilgrims
Wales
on Sunday: Wrexham stayin' up
Wrexham FC: Wrexham 3 Boston 1
Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 3 Boston United 1 |
|
League 2 Results |
|
Barnet 2
Wycombe 1
Bury 1 Mansfield 1
Darlington 0 Stockport 5
Hartlepool 1 Bristol Rovers 2
Lincoln City 2 Chester 0
Macclesfield 1 Notts County 1
MK Dons 3 Accrington Stanley 1
Peterborough 3 Rochdale 3
Shrewsbury 2 Grimsby 2
Swindon 1 Walsall 1
Torquay 0 Hereford 0
Wrexham 3 Boston United 1 |
|
Final League 2 Table |
| |
|
PLD
|
GD
|
PTS
|
| 1 |
Walsall |
46 |
32 |
89 |
| 2 |
Hartlepool |
46 |
25 |
88 |
| 3 |
Swindon |
46 |
20 |
85 |
| 4 |
Milton Keynes Dons |
46 |
18 |
84 |
| 5 |
Lincoln City |
46 |
11 |
74 |
| 6 |
Bristol Rovers |
46 |
7 |
72 |
| 7 |
Shrewsbury |
46 |
22 |
71 |
| 8 |
Stockport |
46 |
11 |
71 |
| 9 |
Rochdale |
46 |
20 |
66 |
| 10 |
Peterborough |
46 |
9 |
65 |
| 11 |
Darlington |
46 |
-4 |
65 |
| 12 |
Wycombe |
46 |
5 |
62 |
| 13 |
Notts County |
46 |
2 |
62 |
| 14 |
Barnet |
46 |
-15 |
59 |
| 15 |
Grimsby |
46 |
-16 |
59 |
| 16 |
Hereford |
46 |
-8 |
55 |
| 17 |
Mansfield |
46 |
-5 |
54 |
| 18 |
Chester |
46 |
-8 |
53 |
| 19 |
Wrexham |
46 |
-22 |
51 |
| 20 |
Accrington Stanley |
46 |
-11 |
50 |
| 21 |
Bury |
46 |
-15 |
50 |
| 22 |
Macclesfield |
46 |
-22 |
48 |
| 23 |
Boston United |
46 |
-29 |
46 |
| 24 |
Torquay |
46 |
-27 |
35 |
|
|
