Wycombe Wanderers 1

Tommy Mooney 6'

Wrexham 1

Mark Jones 30'

Saturday 05 August 2006

 

Kick Off @ 15:00



Match Report

Wrexham can leave Adams Park with their heads held high after a nervous opening to the game when they found themselves a goal down after only six minutes of a play.

The game summed up the old football term of ‘a game of two halves’ well with Wrexham happy to be on level terms at half time but disappointed not to have left with all three points come full time after a second half that remained goalless.

Wrexham’s defensive frailties shown at Port Vale in their final pre season game revealed it’s ugly ahead after Simon Spender was caught out of position and this allowed Wycombe’s Chris Palmer to take full advantage of the attacking situation. His centre across goal caught out the flat footed Wrexham defence and Tommy Mooney’s weak shot squirmed under the body of Ingham when the Wrexham keeper should have pulled off a save.

Wrexham looked nervous from this point in and their only noticeable effort on goal was when Mark Jones crashed a free kick high over the Wycombe stand, as efforts on goal were now few and far between.

Both full backs, Valentine and Spender, were having difficult afternoons as Wrexham found it difficult to cope with the attacks from their hosts. Palmer was enjoying too much freedom afforded to him by Spender and he almost took full advantage of this space as he cut inside and flashed a shot across the face of Ingham’s goal.

With Wycombe not making the most of their first half possession, Wrexham struck back on the half hour mark following a howler from keeper Ricardo Batista, which allowed Mark Jones to bring Wrexham back on level terms.

It was a mistake up there with the best of them, as the on loan Fulham keeper charged out of his area to close down a through ball for Neil Roberts. Batista failed to find touch with at least two attempts and the ball broke kindly to Mark Jones and despite being around forty yards from goal, the Wales under 21 international sunk a lob into the empty net with supreme accuracy.

After picking up the Red Passion Goal of the Season award for last season, the Wrexham born midfielder put down a bench mark for the rest of the season and to be honest I doubt any other player in a red shirt would have found the back of the net if left in a similar position.

The equaliser composed Wrexham and they played some decent football during the next five minutes with Mark Jones again going the closest but he dragged his low left footed shot wide of the near post after cutting in from the right wing.

Wycombe responded late on in the first half with the dangerous Palmer setting up Grant from a corner but the on loan Chelsea striker pulled his hot wide of Ingham’s near post. Ingham showed indecision when a shot was deflected into his path by Done but instead of pouncing on the ball he opted to hack clear for a throw in, as he was afraid of giving away a free kick for a back pass, as the first half ended one each.

Wrexham started the second half well but were on the back foot when Jermaine Easter broke quickly from a Wrexham corner after Mark Jones was dispossessed. It did not take long for the Wrexham midfield to get a strangle hold on the game and in a ten minute spell after the hour mark, Wrexham manufactured a couple of opportunities for the front two of Neil Roberts and Chris Llewellyn.

Simon Spender, who had a much better second half in defence and attack, found himself in space down the right and his deep cross was met by Roberts at the far post but he could not get enough purchase on his header to trouble Batista in the Wycombe goal.

Wrexham continued to press and a seraching diagonal from Mark Jones sent Roberts clear of the offside trap down the left channel and his cross to the far post was headed goalwards by Llewellyn but he was unlucky to see his effort rebound off the outside of the post and Wycombe cleared the danger.

The impressive Palmer got the better of Spender and Mark Jones down the left but his shot was too close to Ingham and the Wrexham keeper pulled off a simple save. Ingham was called into action moments later when he had to rush off his line to force Bloomfield wide and this allowed Valentine to get back to clear the danger.

A mistake by Spender almost let Wycombe in after Steve Evans was at full stretch to head difficult ball into the air, the Wrexham full back just headed the ball back down into the path of substitute Dixon but he fired his effort into the home fans behind Ingham’s goal.

Wrexham had one last chance with the game heading into injury time after Matty Done got clear of his full back down the left and his low cross to the far post was perfect for Roberts. The Wrexham skipper did not get a clean contact on his shot and although it beat keeper Batista, it struck the body of Russell Martin on the line and this allowed Wycombe to escape with a point.

 

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "I thought it was an excellent performance. We began well and then gave away a sloppy goal, all the more disappointing because it was something we had worked on in training. But I liked the reaction from the players, to close people down in that heat and all the way through the game was very pleasing. I got people, who others told me couldn't do it, like Darren Ferguson to do it. If you look at us, then it was a very attacking midfield, with the likes of mark Jones, Matty Done and Darren in there, but they did their defensive roles as well as the attacking work. In the second half we have had enough chances to win it and that is the only disappointing part of the performance - but overall I'm absolutely delighted." [Source: Wrexham AFC]

 

Paul Lambert: "It was tough. You couldn't get a bet on the heat being the way it was. The players were terrific in their effort and they tried to win the game the best they could. Three mistakes in one move cost us but if you had asked me whether I'd take a point at beginning of the game I would have said 'yes'. We had a great start and sometimes there is a tendency once you've got that early goal that people think you'll get two or three. It doesn't always work that way even though we did have chances. Fair play to Wrexham, they hung in there and we got punished." [Source: Wycombe Wanderers FC]

Wycombe Wanderers

Starting XI:

31 Ricardo Batista
25 Sam Stockley
04 Russell Martin
05 Will Antwi
06 Mike Williamson
30 Anthony Grant 69'
03 Chris Palmer
10 Matt Bloomfield
07 Kevin Betsy
16 Tommy Mooney
09 Jermaine Easter 78'

Subs:

02 Lewis Christon
08 Stefan Oakes 69'
18 Jonny Dixon 78'
22 Sergio Torres
32 Jamie Young (GK)

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 10
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 8
Possession: 62%
Fouls Conceded: 10
Corners: 10
Yellow Cards: 0
Red Cards: 0

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01 Michael Ingham
14 Simon Spender
05 Steve Evans
06 Dennis Lawrence
03 Ryan Valentine
07 Mark Jones
08 Danny Williams
10 Darren Ferguson
20 Matty Done
23 Neil Roberts
11 Chris Llewellyn

Subs:

12 Matt Crowell
13 Michael Jones (GK)
16 Levi Mackin
24 Gareth Evans
27 Jamie Reed

Stats:

Shots on Goal: 9
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 6
Possession: 38%
Fouls Conceded: 12
Corners: 1
Yellow Cards: 3
Red Cards: 0

Match Notes

Venue Adams Park
Attendance 4,763
Half Time Wycombe 1 Wrexham 1
Referee P Miller (Bedfordshire)

Other Match Reports

BBC: Wycombe 1-1 Wrexham


TEAMtalk: Batista error hands Dragons point


Wales on Sunday: Mark of class is boost for Reds


When Skies are Blue: Blues Fail to Learn from Last Season's Mistakes


Wrexham FC: Reds get season off to a positive start


Wycombe Wanderers FC: Blues Begin with a Draw

League 2 Results

Barnet 0 Torquay 1

Chester 2 Accrington Stanley 0

Darlington 4 Macclesfield 0
Grimsby 3 Boston United 2
Hartlepool 0 Swindon 1
Lincoln City 1 Notts County 1
Milton Keynes Dons 2 Bury 1
Peterborough 4 Bristol Rovers 1
Rochdale 0 Walsall 1
Shrewsbury 2 Mansfield 2
Stockport 0 Hereford 2
Wycombe 1 Wrexham 1

League 2 Table

   
PLD
GD
PTS
1 Darlington 1 4 3
2 Peterborough 1 3 3
3 Chester 1 2 3
4 Hereford 1 2 3
5 Grimsby 1 1 3
6 Milton Keynes Dons 1 1 3
7 Swindon 1 1 3
8 Torquay 1 1 3
9 Walsall 1 1 3
10 Mansfield 1 0 1
11 Shrewsbury 1 0 1
12 Lincoln City 1 0 1
13 Notts County 1 0 1
14 Wrexham 1 0 1
15 Wycombe 1 0 1
16 Boston United 1 -1 0
17 Bury 1 -1 0
18 Barnet 1 -1 0
19 Hartlepool 1 -1 0
20 Rochdale 1 -1 0
21 Accrington Stanley 1 -2 0
22 Stockport 1 -2 0
23 Bristol Rovers 1 -3 0
24 Macclesfield 1 -4 0

Next Game

Grimsby Town (h), Coca Cola League 2

Tuesday 08 August 2006, Kick Off @ 19:45