| A clinical display from
Wrexham set themselves up for a superb 3-0 victory at Championship side
Sheffield Wednesday to progress to the second round of the Carling Cup.
Two goals toward the latter stages of the
first half from strikers Neil Roberts and Chris Llewellyn put Wrexham in
the driving seat and in the second half it was turn of both wingers,
Matty Done and Mark Jones, to get on the score sheet, with the strike
from Jones a typical superb finish.
Wednesday started the quicker with Simon Spender forced into two routine
clearances early on but Mike Ingham remained untested in the Wrexham
goal. At the other end of the pitch Wrexham were awarded a free kick 25
yards out in the centre of the goal following a foul on Neil Roberts but
the free kick was wasted by Mark Jones, as he decided to play the ball
through instead of opting for a shot on goal.
The Owls' keeper then made a poor clearance but Roberts’ inception ran
away from the Wrexham striker and Wednesday escaped. Roberts then showed
good chest control as he backed into the defender on the edge of his
area but his left footed shot on the turn was straight at the keeper.
Wrexham’s good start continued and they should have been a goal to the
good when Mark Jones escaped the attention of his marker but his
delightful cross was headed wide of the target by Llewellyn after he did
all the hard work in pulling off the central defender.
Wednesday’s first chance of the game came after seventeen minutes when
Lunt burst through the middle but good play from Ryan Valentine closed
down the Wednesday midfielder and Valentine managed to deflect the shot
behind for the first corner of the game, which was headed behind by
skipper Lee Bullen.
Sheffield Wednesday started to turn the screw and forced their second
corner in as many minutes when a good header from Mike Williams denied
Wednesday a scoring opportunity and this time Ingham claimed the corner
from underneath his bar.
Ingham was at full stretch with twenty five minutes gone when Lunt was
allowed too much space in the centre of the park and he drove a long
range shot that Ingham did well to turn behind for a corner.
After Wrexham’s promising start it was now their hosts turn to make the
most of the play with the Wednesday midfield starting to dominate
proceedings and dictate matters. Lunt was again played in behind the
Wrexham defence following good approach play by Brunt and with Pejic in
pursuit, Lunt pulled his shot narrowly wide of the post although Ingham
had the shot covered.
Wednesday were now in the ascendancy but it was Wrexham who opened the
scoring just after the half hour mark when a Wednesday defender failed
to clear the danger from a ball to the far post. The presence of Mark
Jones put off the defender with Neil Roberts reacting the quickest to
slot in from a tight angle with his left foot. The Wednesday players and
the crowd were appealing for handball from the Wrexham skipper but the
referee had no doubt in awarding the goal.
It got better for Wrexham seven minutes later when Chris Llewellyn
doubled their advantage following a mistake by Spur when he gave the
ball away to Llewellyn. The Wrexham striker took the ball on fourty
yards into the box and cut back inside Bullen before drilling the ball
low through the legs of the keeper.
Wrexham had a chance to make in 3-0 after they forced their first corner
of the game with a couple of minuets left before half time. The corner
was partially cleared to Mark Jones on the edge of the area and he
picked out Done at the back post but he placed his shot wide of the
target.
There was little atmosphere at the ground with the only noise the home
faithful made was when they booed their team off at half time after
Wrexham played the two minutes of stoppage time without any scares.
In fairness to Wednesday, they did have the better of the first half but
it was Wrexham who took their chances and more crucially they came at
the right time, with their hosts on top.
Sheffield Wednesday should have had a goal back within five minutes of
the restart when a superb ball in the box caught out Pejic and Williams
but Brunt headed over despite being unmarked from eight yards out. The
Owls continued their good start to the second half and delivered a lot
of crosses from either flank into the box but the Wrexham defence held
strong to protect their two goal advantage.
A superb move from Wrexham then put the game beyond Wednesday with a
well worked third goal. Chris Llewellyn collected the ball with his back
to the goal and after shifting it across the area he picked out Mark
Jones with a ball in behind the Wednesday defence. Jones took the ball
on a chipped it to the back post from where Done prodded home with
Llewellyn in close contention.
Wrexham brought on Levi Mackin as he replaced Matt Crowell who picked up
a knock in a challenge but the Owls set up a nervous last ten minutes
when they pulled one back when Glen Whelan scored from within the area
with the Wrexham defence caught out of position for the first time in
the evening.
Ingham was forced into another sharp save moments later and at the other
end of the pitch Chris Llewellyn flashed another header wide of the
target, as the game sprang back into life following a dull fifteen
minutes after Wrexham’s third goal.
But with just over five minutes
remaining Wrexham wrapped up the victory with a stunning fourth from
Mark Jones when the Wrexham winger collected the ball on the edge of the
area following good inter play with Chris Llewellyn. Jones dropped his
shoulder and then went on the outside of the defender before bending in
a twenty five yard shot that gave Adamson no chance in the Wednesday
goal. The quality of the strike drew applause from the home crowd who
soon left knowing that their team were heading for an early exit. |
Round
One
67'
75'
67'
75'
90'
90'