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Match Report |
Wrexham’s poor away from continued as
they fell to their sixth successive defeat on their travels at Meadow
Lane.
Wrexham had the chances with nineteen efforts on goal, but goals in
either half from the Magpies was enough to see off Wrexham with Chris
Llewellyn’s header five minutes after County’s second proving to be a
consolation for a Wrexham side that lacked that clinical finish in front
of goal.
Wrexham showed two changes from last week with Josh Johnson replacing
the injured Matty Done down the left and Chris Llewellyn was recalled
following his suspension at the expense of Kevin Smith to partner Maheta
Molango up front.
In a high tempo start to the game it was Wrexham who had the first
attempt on goal when they forced a throw deep in County’s half in the
first minute. Josh Johnson worked himself in from the wing and drove the
ball into the arms of Pilkington but at the other end of the pitch Jason
Lee went close for the Magpies with a header.
It was an entertaining start to the game with end to end football but
despite the shots that went in on goal none had so far forced either
keeper into full length saves. This was to change when Ingham pulled off
a good save by palming away Mendes’ shot from the edge of the area after
good approach play from Parkinson down the left.
Wrexham’s main threat came from Josh Johnson and he had another shot on
goal when he cut in from the left escaping his marker but the final shot
lacked any power to trouble Pilkington.
Johnson had another chance when Llewellyn flicked on Molango’s cross
from the right but this time the winger was off target with his shot.
Wrexham were now looking the team most likely to open the scoring and
Johnson should have done better just after the half hour mark when he
found himself through on goal but he over ran the ball and this allowed
Pilkington to rush out and smother the ball.
Despite Wrexham retaining most of the ball, Notts County always looked
dangerous down the wings and it was the home side that opened the
scoring eight minutes before half time. Mendes was allowed to run across
the centre of the pitch and he picked out Andy Parkinson with the
through ball. Parkinson looked miles offside but then you noticed Lee
Roche far too deep playing him on and all he could do was stand there
with his hand held up as Parkinson ran onto the ball and fired past
Ingham with a composed finish.
Parkinson got the better of Roche three minutes later and the Wrexham
full back could have no complaints about going in the book after he
tugged back the speedy winger.
Josh Johnson had another chance to this time equalise for Wrexham when
he ran onto a through ball but instead of cushioning his header past
Pilkingon he got too much on it and this forced him wide of the goal with
the County defence recovering to clear the danger.
There was no changes at half time with Notts County having the first shot
on goal after the restart when Parkinson cut in alongside Roche but he was off target with
his effort.
Wrexham were awarded a free kick following a foul by Jason Lee which
earned the County striker a caution after already receiving a warning
from the referee in the second half. Wrexham wasted the free kick when
Llewellyn’s effort went straight into the wall and Mark Jones smashed
the rebound over the bar.
Parkinson again caused Roche problems down the County left and after the
Wrexham full back lost his footing, Parkinson was quick to pick out
Mendes in the box but Ingham rescued Wrexham with a good block at the
expense of a corner.
Wrexham cleared this danger but they found themselves two down with an
hour of the play gone with Notts County breaking quickly after a Wrexham
attack was charged down. This allowed the Magpies to break down the left
wing and with the Wrexham defence out of position, Jason Lee was picked
out free in the centre and his touch took the ball past Ingham and into
the far corner with the Wrexham keeper having rushed off his line.
Wrexham had replaced Molango with Kevin Smith only moments before County
had scored their second and thankfully Wrexham pulled one back five
minutes later to keep themselves in the game. Good play from Johnson down the left resulted in him beating two men
and he delivered a superb cross into the area that was perfect for
Llewellyn to run onto and bury his header past Pilkington at the near
post.
Wrexham continued to press for the equaliser and substitute Kevin Smith Evans thought he
had scored it when his header was going towards the bottom corner until
it was tipped around the post by Pilkington. From the resulting corner, Mark Jones was
denied by a good save from Pilkington after the ball had broken to the
Wrexham winger on the edge of the area.
Notts County manager Steve Thompson made substitutions to counter the
threat of Johnson down the left and Denis Smith responded by switching
Johnson to the right with Mark Jones playing down the middle.
The game entered a scrappy spell and although Wrexham enjoyed the better
of the possession the Notts County goal was never in any danger.
The closest Wrexham came was when a corner was forced in injury time and
with Michael Ingham up for the set play, Steve Evans connected well with
the cross but his header went wide.
Soon after the game ended with Wrexham again failing to make the most of
their play and chances and with no consistent threat in the final third
it was another pointless trip back home for the 292 away fans. |
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Match Reaction |
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Denis Smith: "In the end the only negative was that we
lost and didn't pick up any points from what was a good performance. They
are sixth in the league, but could you tell that this afternoon? It is
frustrating to play well and get nothing from it. But we need to win games,
as you are judged on the points you get and not how unlucky you are."
[Source:
Wrexham FC - click here for more]
Steve Thompson: "It was a tough game, but hats off to
Wrexham and Denis Smith. They have some good football players and they came
here and played four good, attacking players on the pitch all game and went
for it. From our point of view could have been two or three up in what was a
very open game, and they had a few chances as well early on. When we went to
2-0 up I thought he would shut-up shop and get the points, but we allowed
them back into it and we didn't stop the cross. It was a poor goal to give
away, but I was pleased with our goals in what was an entertaining League
Two game." [Source:
Notts County
FC - click here for more] |
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Wrexham |
|
Starting XI:
| 01 |
Michael Ingham |
| 02 |
Lee Roche
 |
| 04 |
Shaun Pejic
|
| 05 |
Steve Evans |
| 15 |
Mike Williams |
| 07 |
Mark Jones |
| 08 |
Danny Williams |
| 10 |
Darren Ferguson |
| 17 |
Josh Johnson |
| 26 |
Maheta Molango
59' |
| 11 |
Chris Llewellyn
 |
Subs:
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 14 |
Simon Spender |
| 16 |
Levi Mackin |
| 24 |
Gareth Evans |
| 25 |
Kevin Smith
59' |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
19 |
| Shots on Target: |
9 |
| Shots off Target: |
10 |
| Possession: |
62% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
15 |
| Corners: |
8 |
| Yellow Cards: |
2 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Meadow Lane |
| Attendance |
4,416 |
| Half Time |
Notts County 1 Wrexham 0 |
| Referee |
Ray Lee (Essex) |
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75'
86'
86'
75'