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Match Report |
Wrexham pushed Derby all the away in the
second half after the Championship side had raced into a two goal lead
with a double from striker Arturo Lupoli either side of half time. Lee
McEvilly pounced on a mistake to reduce the deficit but after Steve
Evans had a goal disallowed for off side, Lupoli completed his hat trick
to end the tie as a contest with five minutes left.
Wrexham showed two changes from Monday with Danny Williams and Mike
Williams making the starting eleven with Josh Johnson dropping to the
bench and Lee Roche was out suspended. Ryan valentine switched flanks to
the right with Mike Williams starting at left back and Wrexham adopted
the one winger approach with Matty Done the only outlet on the left and
Matt Crowell holding back on the right.
Wrexham had the best chances in the opening ten minutes with the first
coming in the fourth minute. Wrexham worked the ball in well from the
right but Llewellyn was unable to register his shot on target following
a scramble in the box.
Wrexham did forced home goalkeeper Stephen Bywater into a save in the
seventh minute after McEvilly out muscled Darren Moore on the edge of
the area and his shot forced Bywater to save at the expense of a corner
Wrexham contained Derby for the opening twenty minutes with their first
shot from Bisgaard ending up in the stand that contained the near 3,000
vocal travelling support midway through the first half. Soon after Derby
registered their first shot on target in the twenty-fifth minute but
Camara shot straight at Ingham from twenty yards out.
Derby were forcing themselves on Wrexham and they opened the scoring in
the thirty-second minute. Bisgaard got clear of the Wrexham midfield and
fed Lupoli, who beat the offside trap, to go clear down the left channel
and he smashed the ball past Ingham from inside of the area.
Ingham then fumbled a powerful shot from Wrexham born David Jones but
there was no Derby player around to collect the loose ball that Ingham
gathered at the second attempt.
There was not much more action for the remainder of the first half and
Wrexham’s only noticeable effort was when Danny Williams fired high and
wide from the edge of the area after he was set up by Done.
Both teams made no changes during the half time break but Wrexham did
increase the tempo of their game for what turned out to be an
entertaining second half of classic cup football.
Steve Evans went close for Wrexham when he headed a Ferguson set play
straight at Bywater at the back post. Derby broke quickly from this with
Bywater despatching Lupoli away down the right flank. He crossed to the
back post where Crowell and Mike Williams combined to deflect a shot
from Jones behind for a corner, which Wrexham failed to defend. The set
play from the left and he curled this to the edge of the six yard box
from where Lupoli was left unmarked to head his second of the afternoon.
Wrexham were about to introduce Simon Spender moments before this goal
but in the end Josh Johnson came on to replace Matt Crowell and this did
at least make Wrexham a greater threat going forward.
Just after the hour mark and Wrexham were back in the game following a
mistake by Rob Malcolm when his attempted header back was intercepted by
Lee McEvilly and after knocking the ball past Bywater, McEvilly had the
simple chance to roll the ball into an empty net for his second of the
season.
Wrexham continued to press for the equaliser and Steve Evans went close
when he headed Ferguson’s free kick narrowly wide with twenty minutes
left.
Wrexham continued to look dangerous with the wing play from both Johnson
and Done putting Derby on the back foot but the Championship side showed
their quality in preventing any efforts on their goal.
Wrexham did get the ball in the back of the net after Llewellyn headed a
Ferguson free kick to the back post where Steve Evans arrived to fire
past Bywater but the goal was controversially ruled out for offside.
This came with twenty minutes left and was the turning point in the game
with Wrexham struggling to create many chances in the time remaining.
The only one arrived with fifteen minutes left from another set play
when McEvilly had a shot blocked and after Pejic forced another corner,
play was halted for a foul when Ferguson delivered the ball in.
The game was over for Wrexham with five minutes left when Smith skipped
past Valentine down the Derby left and delivered a deep cross that
Howard headed against the bar. The ball dropped kindly for Lupoli who
completed his hat trick with a close range finish.
In the end, the 3-1 score line was just about right but the passion and
effort that had been lacking from recent league games returned to the
side and Wrexham will pull clear of the relegation zone if this can be
transferred to future matches. |
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "We had a little spell at 2-1 when we
could have possibly sneaked a result out of it. There were a couple of
occasions we might have done better, Steve heading into the keeper's hands
and, of course, I want have a look at the offside shouts again. If we had
kept it a 2-1, then I think that would have been a fair result. I thought
Derby County were excellent, some of their movement was outstanding and I
don't think we can complain about the result. In fact, there were a couple
of times when even I wanted applaud. They are possible the side that have
impressed me most this season." [Source:
Wrexham FC - click here for more]
Billy Davies: "We gave away a slack and careless goal
and that gave Wrexham the lift they needed, so we ended up having to scrap
and battle. We defended well in the opening 60 minutes but it's a lesson for
us that you can't give the opposition any sort of lift when you are
comfortable. It was important though for us to continue the winning habit
and that was the message today. We have that spirit and a level of
confidence which is growing and it was so important to get into the next
round." [Source:
Derby County FC - click here for more] |
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Wrexham |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Michael Ingham |
| 03 |
Ryan Valentine
 |
| 04 |
Shaun Pejic |
| 05 |
Steve Evans |
| 15 |
Mike Williams |
| 12 |
Matt Crowell
 58' |
| 08 |
Danny Williams |
| 10 |
Darren Ferguson |
| 20 |
Matty Done |
| 09 |
Lee McEvilly
 |
| 11 |
Chris Llewellyn |
Subs:
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 14 |
Simon Spender |
| 17 |
Josh Johnson
 58' |
| 21 |
Marc Williams |
| 24 |
Gareth Evans |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
12 |
| Shots on Target: |
5 |
| Shots off Target: |
7 |
| Possession: |
49% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
11 |
| Corners: |
2 |
| Yellow Cards: |
1 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Pride Park |
| Attendance |
15,609 |
| Half Time |
Derby County 1 Wrexham 0 |
| Referee |
Richard Beeby (Northamptonshire) |
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Third
Round
76'
90'
76'