|
Match Report |
Wrexham started their home campaign with a resounding
3-0 victory over Grimsby Town, who were defeated in last season’s league
two play off final.
It is difficult to pick a fault in the display from Wrexham as they were
quick out of the blocks with Danny Williams and Darren Ferguson pulling
the strings in midfield. Often the pair found wingers Mark Jones and
Matty Done with both afforded too much space by the generous Grimsby
defence.
Grimsby had to scramble the ball away from their own goal line twice in
the opening ten minutes as Wrexham looked dangerous from set plays into
the box. Steve Evans was unlucky with one of his headers and Neil
Roberts was almost played in but the Grimsby defence were at full
stretch to deny the Wrexham captain his first goal in his second spell
at the Racecourse.
Wrexham did not have to wait much longer for the opening goal with Steve
Evans rounding off a perfect start for Wrexham with a header in the
sixteenth minute. Good wing play from Done forced a corner down the
Wrexham left but Ferguson’s set play was only partially cleared.
Ferguson had a second chance when he collected the lose ball and
delivered a deep cross to Steve Evans at the back post and he rose
unchallenged to plant a header into the far corner past the exposed
Barnes.
Grimsby had offered very little up front and Michael Reddy looked a
shadow of the player he was last season. The only scare for Wrexham came
when Mike Ingham came off his line but misjudged the bounce of the
through ball but he managed to get a finger tip on the ball to divert it
upwards and the Wrexham keeper pounced before any striker could get the
vital touch.
Wrexham continued to look dangerous and with the ball constantly spread
across the pitch, the Grimsby defence became stretched and Done in
particular was making use of the space down the left flank.
This resulted to the second goal of the evening in the thirty-fourth
minute when Done was allowed too much time down the left and after
passing inside to Ferguson, the midfielder measured a cross to the edge
of the area from where Chris Llewellyn looped a superb header into the
top corner from eighteen yards.
Wrexham dominated the proceedings in the first half and were worthy of
their 2-0 lead at the break but were almost caught out shortly after the
restart, as Grimsby started well after replacing Beagrie and the
ineffective Reddy with Toner and Bore coming on for the start of the
second half.
Good attacking play from Isaiah Rankin was only halted by last ditch
challenge from Evans and the former Arsenal trainee should have done
better when he completely missed his header at the back post following a
deep cross from the left.
Grimsby offered a lot more up front in the second half and went close
again when Toner flashed a cross through the six yard box with no player
getting a touch on the ball.Substitute Bore forced a save out of
Ingham but Grimsby’s failure to make the most of their opportunities
came back to haunt them when Wrexham showed them how it is done with the
third goal of the night midway through the second half.
This virtually ended the game as a contest when Matty Done scored from
the edge of the area after good work from Llewellyn, when he made a run
across the edge of the area but was very lucky when the ball found Done
following an air short. Done made no mistake with his finish and bent
the ball inside of the near post that gave Barnes no chance in the
Grimsby goal. Ryan Valentine went close to extending Wrexham's lead
when he received the ball on the edge of the area but was unlucky to see
his curling right foot shot go narrowly past the top corner of the far
post with Barnes well beaten.
This allowed Denis Smith to withdraw Darren Ferguson with Matt Crowell
only needing ten minutes to end up in the book for a dangerous challenge
on Newey, although he was lucky not to pick up a caution for his
reaction to the challenge. Grimsby's lack of threat was summed up well
when substitute Bore failed to connect with a bicycle kick late on.
The Wrexham goal never looked in danger and Josh Johnson replaced Mark
Jones with five minutes left with the game ending 3-0. |
|
Match Reaction |
|
To follow... |
|
|
Grimsby Town |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Phillip Barnes |
| 02 |
John McDermott |
| 06 |
Justin White |
| 05 |
Ben Futcher |
| 03 |
Tom Newey |
| 07 |
Isaiah Rankin |
| 04 |
Gary Harkins |
| 08 |
Paul Bollard |
| 11 |
Peter Beagrie
45' |
| 09 |
Michael Reddy
45' |
| 19 |
Gary Jones |
Subs:
| 10 |
Ciaran Toner
45' |
| 14 |
Terry Barwick |
| 18 |
Peter Bore
45' |
| 20 |
Gary Croft |
| 22 |
Danny North |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
7 |
| Shots on Target: |
2 |
| Shots off Target: |
5 |
| Possession: |
50% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
8 |
| Corners: |
6 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
|
Match Notes |
| Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
| Attendance |
5,180 |
| Half Time |
Wrexham 2 Grimsby Town 0 |
| Referee |
Dean Whitestone (Northampton) |
|
|
Other Match Reports |
|
BBC: Wrexham 3-0 Grimsby
Grimsby Town FC: Dragons Too Hot For Town
Wrexham AFC: Wrexham 3 Grimsby 0 (Ft) |
|
League 2 Results |
|
Accrington
Stanley 0 Darlington 2
Bristol Rovers 1 Wycombe 2
Bury 1 Chester 3
Hereford 1 Lincoln City 2
Macclesfield 0 Hartlepool 0
Mansfield 2 Milton Keynes Dons 1
Notts County 1 Shrewsbury 1
Swindon 2 Barnet 1
Torquay 1 Rochdale 0
Walsall 2 Stockport 0
Wrexham 3 Grimsby 0
Wednesday Game:
Boston
United v Peterborough
|
|
League 2 Table |
|
|
|
Pld
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
1 |
Darlington |
2 |
6 |
6 |
|
2 |
Chester |
2 |
4 |
6 |
|
3 |
Walsall |
2 |
3 |
6 |
|
4 |
Swindon |
2 |
2 |
6 |
|
5 |
Torquay |
2 |
2 |
6 |
|
6 |
Wrexham |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
7 |
Mansfield |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 8 |
Lincoln City |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 9 |
Wycombe |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| 10 |
Peterborough |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 11 |
Hereford |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| 12 |
Milton Keynes Dons |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| 13 |
Grimsby |
2 |
-2 |
3 |
| 14 |
Shrewsbury |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| 15 |
Notts County |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| 16 |
Hartlepool |
2 |
-1 |
1 |
| 17 |
Macclesfield |
2 |
-4 |
1 |
| 18 |
Boston Utd |
1 |
-1 |
0 |
| 19 |
Barnet |
2 |
-2 |
0 |
| 20 |
Rochdale |
2 |
-2 |
0 |
| 21 |
Bury |
2 |
-3 |
0 |
| 22 |
Bristol Rovers |
2 |
-4 |
0 |
|
23 |
Accrington Stanley |
2 |
-4 |
0 |
|
24 |
Stockport |
2 |
-4 |
0 |
|
|
Next Game |
|
Peterborough United (h),
Coca Cola League 2
Saturday 12
August 2006, Kick Off @ 15:00 |
|
72'
86'