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Match Report |
A superb display from
Wrexham ended Swindon’s 100% start to the league season with the Red
Dragons coming from behind to secure a 2-1 win courtesy of second half
goals in the space of two minutes from Ryan Valentine and Mark Jones.
Wrexham played well from the off and coped with losing Neil Roberts
after only five minutes of play with a leg injury after the Wrexham
captain challenged for the ball in the air with the Swindon defence.
There was little opportunities in the opening stages but Ferguson and
Williams were combining well in midfield and at every opportunity were
spreading the ball wide early for wingers Mark Jones and Matty Done.
Swindon had a shot from Roberts that failed to trouble Ingham and on
fifteen minutes Wrexham forced the game’s first corner following good
work by the lively Chris Llewellyn. Wrexham took it short and Matty Done
took the ball to the edge of the area from where he flashed a left
footed shot across the face of goal that went narrowly wide of the far
post.
More good work by Done, who made most of the space afforded to him by
Swindon early on, set up a chance for Llewellyn five minutes later but
the striker’s header from ten yards just missed the far post.
A neat back heel by Chris Llewellyn allowed Done to break in the box but
he went down far too easy after going past a Swindon player and received
a warning from the referee.
Christian Roberts went close for Swindon at the other end of the pitch
from a chance he fashioned for himself but his shot went wide of
Ingham’s goal.
A heavy foul by Danny Williams on Curtis Weston ended up with a caution
for the Wrexham midfielder and resulted in the opening goal of the game.
The foul was committed about thirty five yards from goal and with Ingham
expecting a cross to the back post, Paul Evans curled the ball into the
top corner of the near post.
Lee Roche ended up in the book five minutes later when he was caught in
possession and had to pull back on Christian Roberts’ shirt to prevent
the Swindon striker a route on goal. From the resulting free kick, goal
scorer Evans again got his shot on target but Ingham was able to gather
the ball after it went through a crowd of players before bouncing in
front of the Wrexham keeper.
Wrexham’s best move of the game so far should have ended in the
equaliser with five minutes of the half remaining. Mark Jones took a
high ball down with his first touch and shifted it on the outside of the
full back. After gaining himself sufficient space to deliver a cross,
Jones picked out Newby free in the area but the striker glanced the ball
narrowly wide of the far post.
Danny Williams fired over following another good passing move by Wrexham
and there was still time left before half time for Swindon to have the
opportunity to extend their lead when Christian Roberts sprung the off
side trap but Ingham did well to force the Swindon striker wide and the
Wrexham defence managed to get back to clear the danger.
Swindon also had the ball in the net before half time but this time the
Wrexham offside trap worked to deny Roberts a goal after he had slotted
the ball past Ingham.
Both sides made no changes at half time and Wrexham made a positive
start to the second half with Matty Done forcing an early corner after
another run down the left wing. Ferguson’s set play was only partially
cleared with Mark Jones lashing in a goal bound shot from the edge of
the area that was deflected behind for another corner. Ferguson took
this one from the other flank and this time Steve Evans headed down and
Chris Llewellyn managed to deflect the ball goalwards only to see
Brezovan tip it over for another corner.
Danny Williams had another shot that went over, as Wrexham continued to
pile the pressure on the Swindon goal with Steve Evans this time going
close from another Ferguson corner but his header was straight at the
keeper.
There was only one team in the game now but it looked as if Wrexham were
missing the presence of Neil Roberts up front and you were wondering
from where the equaliser would come from but Wrexham turned the game on
its head to lead 2-1 within the space of two minutes.
The equaliser came in the sixty-sixth minute when Chris Llewellyn
latched onto a superb Ferguson through ball and he was brought down in
the corner of the box by Brezovan. Ryan Valentine took the penalty in
the absence of Neil Roberts and sent Brezovan the wrong way after the
Swindon keeper had escaped with a yellow for his earlier infringement.
Wrexham then took a deserved lead two minutes later when a neat pass
inside from Chris Llewellyn set Mark Jones in on goal and although he
did not make the best contact, he still managed to beat Brezovan with a
shot inside of the far post.
Denis Wise introduced Paul Ince but he looked no where near match fit
and his only contribution in twenty minutes was to over hit a pass and
sky a shot into the Kop.
Valentine had a shot that went narrowly over and Swindon had a chance
near the end when they got free down the right but Brownlie scooped the
ball over at the back post.
Wrexham played out the three minutes of injury time without any scares
and were rewarded with the three points as the game ended 2-1 in
Wrexham’s favour. |
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "I said to the lads before
hand that I don't think there was a great deal between the two sides and I
thought today's game proved that point. As the match progressed I thought it
might take a flash of brilliance from someone to win it, but in the end I
was wrong - as it was decided by a miss hit from Mark Jones. To lose Neil
Roberts so early was a big blow for us, but Darren Ferguson took on his
role, and the pass that caused the penalty was exactly why you bring someone
like him straight back into the side. But if you go through the side, then
my two centre backs have been immense, against two of the best strikers in
the division. It was a little bit of a gamble to bring back Lee Roche and
Ferguson, into a side that has been playing well, but I'm glad to say it
paid off." [Source:
Wrexham FC]
Denis Wise: "We have been beaten but we
have to bounce back as soon as we can - thankfully we have a midweek game
against MK Dons which will give us a chance to put on a better performance.
We have to pick ourselves up but the game is over the let's move on. Peter
was disappointed with the first goal - but it was a fair penalty and we have
no qualms with that. The second one took a deflection off Ady Williams but
we rode our own luck. I have a lot of quality in that dressing room but
Wrexham worked harder overall. If we don't work as hard as these teams then
we will find life difficult as we did today."
[Source:
Swindon Town FC] |
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
| Attendance |
5,257 |
| Half Time |
Wrexham 0 Swindon Town 1 |
| Referee |
Scott Mathieson (Stockport) |
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87'
6'
87'
6'
72'
72'