Wrexham v

Darlington

Saturday 23 December 2006

 

Kick Off @ 15:00



The Quakers

A run of three successive defeats in December has left the Quakers five points adrift of the play off positions in eleventh position with thirty points from twenty-two games.

 

Manager Dave Penney had been in contention for the manager of the month award for November following five straight wins but he was pipped to the award by Walsall's Richard Money. Penney had only joined the Quakers as manager at the beginning of November and replaced Dave Hodgson who was sacked for 'open speculation concerning another football club's contact with him'!

 

Away from home this season, the Quakers have won three of their eleven games at Accrington, Peterborough and more recently Lincoln. Of the other eight games on their travels, five have ended in defeat with the other three finishing as draws and this places the Quakers in twelfth position in the away league table.

 

Rather surprisingly, only three of Darlington's eight league wins have come against teams in the bottom half of the table and the Quakers are yet to win a game after they concede the first goal.

 

Top goal scorer for Darlington is striker Martin Smith who has scored eight goals so far this season with his last coming in the 5-2 defeat at Stockport two weeks a go. Martin Smith joined the Quakers in the summer on a free transfer move from Northampton after playing over 100 games for the Cobblers following his move from Huddersfield in 2003.

Past Encounters

Last 5 Meetings

May 06: Darlington 1 Wrexham 1
Oct 05: Wrexham 1 Darlington 0
Feb 03: Wrexham 0 Darlington 0
Nov 02: Wrexham 0 Darlington 2
Sep 02: Darlington 0 Wrexham 1

Wrexham just edge the head-to-head in the league with thirty-two wins compared to Darlington's thirty and there has been twenty-four draws in the eighty-six league games played between the two sides.

 

Wrexham ended last season with a 1-1 draw at Darlington but should have finished the season with a win after Danny Williams fired in a screamer from outside of the area but poor marking allowed Darlington back into the game during injury time.

 

The original game at the Racecourse went the way of Wrexham with Lee McEvilly scoring a late controversial penalty following a foul on Robbie Foy that looked outside of the area.

League Form Guide

Team Last 5 Games League Position Form Position Last Win
Wrexham LWDLD 19th 21st 4 games
Darlington WWLLL 11th 9th 4 games

Darlington's straight wins in the league during November came to an abrupt end this month with three straight defeats in the league and four if you count the FA cup defeat to Swansea at the start of the month. This was followed up with a 1-0 defeat at Wycombe and another defeat on the road came at Edgley patk as Stockport ran out comprehensive 5-2 winners. Last weekend the Quakers lost 1-0 at home to Notts County.

 

Wrexham, like Darlington, have gone four league games without a win with the last victory coming at home to Lincoln at the end of November.  Wrexham's form has at home is fantastic in comparison to results away from the Racecourse with the last defeat at home in the league coming in mid October.

Team News

Wrexham Team News: Chris Llewellyn and Levi Mackin are the latest players to be added to Wrexham's injury list with both players rated 50/50 for the game against Darlington but Lee McEvilly, on the plus side, came through a reserve game in midweek without any problems. Steve Evans serves the second of a four game ban and Wrexham are also without the injured Mark Jones, Neil Roberts and Juan Ugarte.

Darlington Team News:
Darlington's injury problems have started to ease with manager Dave Penney set to recall Simon Johnson and Gaetano Giallanza at the expense of Julian Joachim and Alun Armstrong up front. Darren Holloway is expected to continue at the back with Darlington set to name an unchanged defence.

Man in the Middle: Ray Olivier from the West Midlands. Ray Olivier has refereed only nine games this season, including Wrexham's 5-2 reverse at Stockport, and has sent off just two players on the opening day of the season. He has so far booked 16 players at an average of 1.78 per game.

Other Games

League 2 Fixtures:

Grimsby v Torquay (Friday)
Mansfield v Chester (Friday)
Notts County v Hereford (Friday)
Shrewsbury v Barnet (Friday)
Boston Utd v Walsall
Bristol Rovers v Accrington
Bury v Hartlepool
Macclesfield v Swindon
Milton Keynes Dons v Rochdale
Peterborough v Lincoln City
Shrewsbury v Barnet
Wrexham v Darlington
Wycombe v Stockport

Walsall have gone two games without a win and they will be looking to end this sequence with a visit to third bottom Boston.

These dropped points have allowed Swindon to narrow the gap to five points at the top of the table and they will be confident of three points when they travel to bottom placed Macclesfield.

Superb fixture planning means second bottom Torquay face a long long trip to Grimsby for a Friday night game on the Christmas weekend.

Venue Guide

Address: Racecourse Ground, Mold Road, Wrexham, LL11 1AH

Telephone Number: 01978 262129

Fax Number: 01978 357821

Web Site: www.wrexhamafc.co.uk

Darlington Websites

How to get there?

By Car: Leave the M6 at Junction 20a to join the M56 towards Chester and at Junction 15 turn left onto the M53 towards Chester. The M53 becomes the A55 and at junction 36 turn left onto the A483 towards Wrexham. Leave the A483 at the junction with the A541 and take the first left at the roundabout and straight over the next roundabout and the ground is ahead of you on your left.

By Train: Wrexham General is next to the ground and there is a service every two hours between Chester and Shrewsbury. There is also an hourly service between Wrexham and Liverpool. Click here for the Rail Track Online Timetable or call national enquiries on 08457 484950.

When you are there
Car Parking: NEWI College just before the ground and a local car park just before the Shell Garage on the opposite side of the road and both cost around £2.00. Free parking is available on the retail parks by turning left at the second roundabout but do not park in ALDI or you will get clamped! Avoid B&Q as they have a maximum stay of two hours and issue parking tickets for £125 and the new Central Retail park just passed the train station operates a time restriction policy.

Beer and Grub: The Turf is right next to the Kop but it gets very busy in the hour leading up to kick off, so arrive early. The Official Supporters Club has use of the Centenary Club on matchdays and this is located behind the Sainsburys Stand with the entrance off the club car park. The Plas Coch Retail Park has a pub and is normally a favourite for away supporters. The Railway is located down the side road along the Remploy factory at the opposite end of Crispin Lane to the ground. There are plenty of pubs in the town centre and the closet to the ground is a Wetherspoons Pub by following Mold Road into the town centre and is found on your left hand side. If you continue into the town centre McDonalds will be on your left and the next pub you reach is The Horse and Jockey and opposite that under the archway is a good chip shop. There are more pubs on High Street and to find them continue pass the Horse and Jockey, passing Burger King on your left, and High Street is the junction with Burtons.

Cash Machines: The Shell Garage on Mold Road with further machines at Sainsburys and Boots on the Plas Coch Retail Park. If you are heading into the town centre you will pass a number of banks on your way to the pubs.

How much to get in?

Stand Adults Senior/YP Juniors
Kop £14 £7 £5
Sainsburys £16 £10 £5
Mold Road £17 £10 £10
Away Stand £16 £10 £5

Family Tickets:

1 Adult & 1 Children: £21 all areas

1 Adult & 2 Children: £26 all areas

2 adults & 2 Children: £42 all areas

Must be purchased in advance from the ticket office or the Trust Shop

Young Persons: Only available to members and tickets must be purchased in advance from the ticket office.

Disabled Facilities

Wrexham have 45 disabled places available at the front of the Pryce Griffiths Stand. There are 22 parking spaces and two disabled toilets with dedicated refreshment kiosks. Admission is £10 for the disabled supporter (£5 concessions) with the helper admitted free. Please contact Tony Millington at The Racecourse on 01978 262129.

Weather Forecast

Misty with temperatures struggling to reach above zero and a 2 mph south easterly wind.