Match Report |
Wrexham’s stay in this season’s
Johnstone’s Paint trophy ended at the first hurdle after a clinical
Rochdale sided scored all five of their penalties against Wrexham’s
three after the opening ninety minutes ended one a piece.
Both teams scored late in each half with deflected goals although
Wrexham were denied what looked to be a clear goal in the second half
after the Dale keeper dropped a cross with the ball appearing to cross
the line.
Wrexham would have regained some confidence from this performance with
the return of Danny Williams boosting the physical make up of the side
in the vital midfield role. With Neil Roberts ruled out from injury
Wrexham did appear to be lightweight up front and despite all their
possession there was insufficient numbers in the box when a decent ball
came in from Josh Johnson who featured on the right wing.
Mark Jones had one of his better games of late and looked more suited to
his free role in the centre of the park and had some trademark shots in
the second half that troubled the Rochdale keeper.
The opening chance of the game came when Johnson picked out Danny
Williams but he dragged his hot wide from the edge of the area on his
weaker left foot.
Wrexham had the better of the opening ten minutes with Josh Johnson
looking promising early on and the Trinidadian winger delivered in some
quality inswinging balls into the box but there was never any danger of
a red shirt getting on the end of them.
The best Rochdale had to offer in the opening fifteen minutes was when
Josh Johnson was harshly penalised for blocking off Modise when chasing
back well down the Wrexham right but Ingham collected the deep cross
comfortably.
James Sharp was rather unfortunate to find himself in the book midway
through the first half when Josh Johnson appeared to run straight into
the Rochdale left back after losing possession of the ball. Wrexham
failed to make most of the free kick with the cross from Mark Jones
coming no nothing but moments later a snap shot from Llewellyn flew
straight into the arms of the keeper.
Rochdale managed to get a strangle hold on the game with the half hour
mark and limited the supply out wide to Johnson and Done was having
another quiet game down the left. Llewellyn was always looking for the
ball but this was mainly with his back to goal and Wrexham found it
difficult to penetrate the stubborn Rochdale defence.
With Rochdale now in control of the game, they were starting to pick out
gaps in the Wrexham defence and Ingham did well to dive low to his left
to collect a low shot from Gary Jones, although for one nervous moment
you thought the ball was going to slip underneath his body. Ingham was
then back pedalling as a Gary Jones cross from the left ended up on the
roof of the net.
At the other end of the pitch, Mark Jones had a shot on goal from
outside of the area and his effort cleared the cross bar in front of the
small number of Rochdale supporters.
Ingham then had to come off his line to clear with a sliding challenge
at the feet of Modise, as a through ball from Doolan looked to have
carved open the Wrexham defence.
Done then broke clear down the left but after cutting in from the flank
his right footed shot was well held by Gilks who made a comfortable save
with a dive at his near post.
The opening goal of the game came five minutes before half time when
Mark Jones lost possession of the ball ten yards inside his own half.
Rochdale worked the ball to the edge of the area with Chris Dagnall’s
low shot taking a deflection off Craig Morgan and the ball wrong footed
Ingham as it nestled in the bottom corner of the net.
Gary Jones had a hopeful effort from thirty five yards but he was in no
danger of doubling Rochdale’s lead with his shot going wide of the six
yard box, as the first half ended with visitors one goal to the good.
There were no changes during half time from either side with Wrexham
forcing the first chance five minutes after the restart. Good play from
Johnson down the right touchline worked himself into space and he picked
out Danny Williams free in the box with the cross, but the diving header
from Williams took a deflection and when the rebound was fired in it
deflected into the arms of a grateful Gilks.
Wrexham’s positive start to the second period continued with Steve Evans
heading over from a Crowell corner and Johnson had penalty appeals for a
handball turned down when his cross was blocked inside of the area.
Llewellyn then earned a corner down the left with a clever flick over
the defender and this was quickly taken to Done. The cross from Done
appeared to be a routine catch for Gilks but he dropped the ball whilst
under no pressure and looked clearly behind the line when he turned it
out of the net. The referee even had his whistle in the mouth, ready to
award the goal, but there was no movement from his assistant with much
anger and disbelief from the home crowd.
Wrexham continued to probe and Llewellyn went close with a glancing
header but the home side were grateful to brilliant defending from
Valentine to keep Wrexham in the game.
Steve Evans came charging out of defence for a clearance that he was
never in control of and Dagnall found himself clean through on goal when
the ball was returned back down the middle by Gary Jones. Dagnall
appeared to over hit his touch but still managed to round Ingham and it
took a brilliant diving header from Valentine to deny a certain goal at
the expense of a corner.
Mark Jones was coming more influential in the game with Rochdale
struggling to pick up the Wrexham midfielder. A good run from Jones,
initially down the left touchline, resulted in Jones cutting in to the
edge of the box but his shot went straight at Gilks.
Jones then popped up down the right wing but after playing in Johnson
the shot from the winger lacked any purpose and Rochdale easily cleared.
Wrexham then had a lucky escape when Modise drove in a
low shot that flashed across the face of goal and rebounded off Dagnall,
who was unmarked inside of the six yard box, into the arms on Ingham at
the near post.
Wrexham got the equaliser their second half display deserved with ten
minutes of the game left. It came in much similar fashion to the opening
goal of the game following a break by Jones down the left side of the
area. He picked out Danny Williams on the edge of the area and his dummy
allowed Crowell to shoot with his effort also deflecting off a defender
to wrong foot the keeper for the equaliser.
There was still time for Wrexham to go in search of the equaliser and
within a minute Done went close with a left shot that just missed the
top corner of the near post.
Rochdale almost hit Wrexham with a sucker punch when a ball from the
left picked out substitute Sako in the box but his shot on the turn went
straight into the arms of Ingham.
Wrexham lost the services of Johnson in injury time with Newby replacing
the winger and there was still time left for both teams to force corners
although both came no nothing and the game ended one each.
After a short delay for the start of the penalty shoot out, up stepped
Gary Jones to send Ingham the wrong way and Valentine responded for
Wrexham with a virtually identical penalty.
Ingham almost got to Doolan’s penalty with a dive to his right but Gilks
did managed to palm away Llewellyn’s spot kick to give Rochdale a
crucial 2-1 lead in the shoot out.
Goodall then put Rochdale 3-1 up and Done responded for Wrexham but
Sako’s kick went in off the bar, which meant Danny Williams had to score
to keep Wrexham in the tie.
Williams did this in emphatic fashion but Dagnall made it five out of
five for Rochdale to send them into the second round. |
|
Wrexham |
Starting XI:
01 |
Michael Ingham |
03 |
Ryan Valentine |
06 |
Craig Morgan |
05 |
Steve Evans |
15 |
Mike Williams |
07 |
Mark Jones |
12 |
Matt Crowell
|
08 |
Danny Williams |
20 |
Matty Done |
17 |
Josh Johnson
90' |
11 |
Chris Llewellyn |
Subs:
13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
14 |
Simon Spender |
16 |
Levi Mackin |
18 |
Jon Newby
90' |
24 |
Gareth Evans |
Stats:
Shots on Goal: |
12 |
Shots on Target: |
6 |
Shots off Target: |
6 |
Possession: |
67% |
Fouls Conceded: |
7 |
Corners: |
3 |
Yellow Cards: |
0 |
Red Cards: |
0 |
|
Rochdale |
Starting XI:
01 |
Matthew Gilkes |
02 |
Simon Ramsen |
21 |
James Sharp
|
06 |
Jonathon Boardman |
12 |
Alan Goodall |
08 |
Gary Jones |
19 |
Lee Crooks
83' |
05 |
John Dolan |
20 |
Clive Moyo-Modise
85' |
09 |
Chris Dagnall
|
16 |
Keith Barker |
Subs:
04 |
Ernie Cooksey
83' |
11 |
Adam Rundle |
15 |
Joe Thompson |
25 |
Theo Coleman |
26 |
Morike Sako
85' |
Stats:
Shots on Goal: |
9 |
Shots on Target: |
4 |
Shots off Target: |
5 |
Possession: |
33% |
Fouls Conceded: |
10 |
Corners: |
4 |
Yellow Cards: |
1 |
Red Cards: |
0 |
|
Match Notes |
Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
Attendance |
1,209 |
Half Time |
Wrexham 0 Rochdale 1 |
Referee |
Mark Haywood (Leeds) |
|
Other Match Reports |
Wrexham Dragons: Final Whistle
Podcast
BBC:
Wrexham 1-1 Rochdale
TEAMtalk: Dragons Crash Out
Wrexham FC: Wrexham 1 Rochdale 1 Lost 5-3 on Pens |
Round One Results |
Northern Section (West):
Accrington Stanley 1 Carlisle 1 (pens 3-1)
Bury 0 Tranmere 2
Macclesfield 0 Stockport 1
Wrexham 1 Rochdale 1 (pens 3-5)
Northern Section (East):
Bradford 1 Scunthorpe 2
Hartlepool 3 Rotherham 1
Huddersfield 1 Doncaster 2
Lincoln 0 Grimsby 0 (pens 3-5)
Southern Section (West):
Bristol Rovers 1 Torquay 0
Hereford 1 Shrewsbury 2
Walsall 1 Swansea 1 (pens 3-4)
Wycombe 1 Swindon 0
Southern Section (East):
Brighton 2 Boston 0
Gillingham 1 Notts Forest 2
Northampton 0 Brentford 0
Notts County 0 Barnet 1 |
Next Game |
Mansfield
Town (a),
Coca Cola League 2
Saturday 21
October 2006, Kick Off @ 5:00 |
|