Match Report |
A much improved second half display from
Wrexham was enough to earn a point against a Hartlepool side that had
won 10 out of their last 11 games.
Hartlepool started the game strongly, with Wrexham struggling to get
going, and the away team took an early advantage but Chris Llewellyn
grabbed the equaliser in the second half against his former club after
being set up by Matty Done, who turned the game in Wrexham’s favour
following his introduction as a second half substitute.
Brian Carey only made one change from the team that battled well at
Swindon with Gareth Evans replacing the injurred Steve Evans at the
heart of the defence after he was ruled out with a broken nose sustained
last week.
Gareth Evans failed to deal with his first task of the game when he
could not head clear beyond the penalty area and this resulted in
Hartlepool opening the scoring after just eight minutes with Richard
Barker side footing home from close range after he was picked out by
James Brown.
Wrexham looked nervous at the back and almost found themselves two down
within the open fifteen minutes when Ingham was at full stretch to turn
a side footed effort from Barker around the post after the Hartlepool
striker was afforded too much space on the edge of the area. From the
resulting corner, Lee Roche did well to clear off the line as
frustration in the stands grew.
Wrexham were struggling to create any chances of note and had to wait
until the end of the first half to register their first meaningful shot
on target when Lee McEvilly fired in a low left footed effort from just
outside of the area that Konstantopoulos turned around his post for a
corner, which was claimed by the Hartlepool goalkeeper.
McEvilly again threatened for Wrexham when he virtually attempted to
barge his way through the Hartlepool defence but after getting inside
the area, he toe poked wide of the far post as Wrexham headed in for
half time a goal down.
There were no changes at half time and Wrexham had a lucky escape early
on when Valentine this timed cleared off his line after Richard Barker
glanced a header from a corner goalwards.
Brian Carey made the first change of the afternoon with Simon Spender
being replaced by Matty Done with nine minutes of the second half gone.
This change swung the game in Wrexham’s favour with Done always an
outlet down the left and after switching flanks, Chris Llewellyn found
himself more involved in the game down the right.
Done made an early impact when he escaped the presence of Liddell and
Barron down the left but he failed to trouble Konstantopoulos with a
tame shot at the Hartlepool stopper.
Done continued to look dangerous but lacked the final ball, although
Wrexham did have a good chance when the winger was brought down out on
the left and Llewellyn whipped in a dangerous free kick that
Konstantopoulos claimed after the ball travelled through a crowd of
bodies.
A rare attack from Hartlepool almost put paid to Wrexham’s endeavours in
the second half when Pejic made a mistake but Sweeney failed to
capitalise of this error when he fired wide of Ingham’s left hand post.
This miss proved to be crucial as Wrexham were celebrating the equaliser
their second half performance richly deserved in the 64th minute.
It was no surprise that Done was involved in the goal after he was
played in by Valentine down the left and the young Wrexham winger this
time delivered with the final ball when he picked out Chris Llewellyn at
the far post who slammed in from close range.
The goal was no more that Wrexham deserved and if anything they looked
like the side that would go on to take all three points, as Hartlepool
were clearly rattled at the back.
The performance and goal clearly lifted the crowd as Done again
continued to torment Hartlepool with Konstantopoulos requiring two
attempts to gather a well struck long range shot from the lively winger.
Wrexham’s attacks were not just coming down the left with Llewellyn also
delivering quality balls in on either foot down the right and one of
theses crosses should have resulted in Wrexham’s second goal but Marc
Williams literally took the ball off the head of McEvilly when his
strike partner was well positioned.
Hartlepool were getting more desperate with Wrexham dominating midfield
where Mitchell and Williams combined well to break up what little play
the away side at.
A sign of this was when Clark put too much power on a header back to
Konstantopoulos and the keeper failed to prevent the ball going out for
a corner. Llewellyn delivered another good ball in and this time
McEvilly was denied when his header was cleared off the line.
Konstantopoulos then required two attempts to claim a powerful shot from
Marc Williams with McEvilly close to getting to the ball first and the
Wrexham number 9 pulled a free kick wide of the near post, although his
shot lacked any power to this time trouble the overworked Hartlepool
‘keeper.
A good run from Valentine earned another corner for Wrexham and this
caused a scramble at the near post but Wrexham were unable to force the
ball in as Hartlepool cleared.
Wrexham appeared to take their foot of f the gas in the final five
minutes and this resulted in Hartlepool having opportunities towards the
end but Wrexham required some desperate defending to keep the game at
1-1 throughout the three minutes of injury time. |
Match Reaction |
Brian Carey: "We definitely could have won it, I think
the forty minutes that we put-in in the second-half, take the last five out
of that. I think the forty minutes that was the way that we want to play. I
spoke to the players about it during the week and that is how we want to go
about it. We had enough chances to have won it, they've had chances
themselves but we could have snuck it in the end. I don't think that we
dealt with the conditions too well in the first half, I was a little bit
disappointed with how we went about it initially. We regrouped at half-time,
regained our composure, they went about it like we asked them too in the
second-half. They've showed what they are capable of in that forty minutes
and I'm a little disappointed with the result to be truthful. The fans
really got behind us in the second half when they were terrific, but I
really wanted that from the start. That is very important here, that is
vital here, because you need the crowd here helping you but to do that we
need to give them something to shout about which we didn't do in the
first-half and I was most disappointed with that. Once we got a goal, and we
showed a little bit at the end of the first half, the crowd were on their
feet. In the second half the crowd were magnificent and that's vital."
[Source:
Wrexham FC - click here for more]
Danny Wilson: "It was always going to be a difficult
game. The situation they're in, they weren't going to lie down and let us
tickle their bellies. I thought we had chances to make it 2-0 but didn't
take them and fair play to Wrexham, they built up a head of steam and got
back into it. Richie Barker scored a great goal and that's what he is
capable of.I'm sure they feel that their goal was a good one too - it wasn't
from my point of view, but I'm glad we got out of this with a point."
[Source:
Hartlepool United FC] |
|
Wrexham |
Starting XI:
01 |
Michael Ingham |
02 |
Lee Roche |
04 |
Shaun Pejic |
24 |
Gareth Evans |
03 |
Ryan Valentine
|
14 |
Simon Spender
54' |
08 |
Danny Williams |
18 |
Paul Mitchell
|
11 |
Chris Llewellyn
|
09 |
Lee McEvilly |
21 |
Marc Williams |
Subs:
13 |
Michael Ingham (GK) |
16 |
Levi Mackin |
17 |
Josh Johnson |
20 |
Matty Done
54' |
27 |
Jamie Reed |
Stats:
Shots on Goal: |
13 |
Shots on Target: |
6 |
Shots off Target: |
7 |
Possession: |
55% |
Fouls Conceded: |
13 |
Corners: |
6 |
Yellow Cards: |
2 |
Red Cards: |
0 |
|
Match Notes |
Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
Attendance |
3,828 |
Half Time |
Wrexham 0 Hartlepool United 1 |
Referee |
G Salisbury |
|
|