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Match Report |
Wrexham took a giant step forward to
securing League Two survival with a 1-0 win at rivals Shrewsbury Town in
a memorable last visit to the Gay Meadow.
The game was tensely poised at half time but as the second half wore on,
Wrexham took control of the game and on-loan Michael Proctor scored the
all important goal from yet another Simon Spender cross with eleven
minutes left.
Shrewsbury only threatened the Wrexham goal with long range shots and
the Wrexham defence held strong, well marshalled by the confident
Anthony Williams in goal, against the numerous set plays the home side
forced.
Neil Roberts returned to the side at the expense of Matty Done to
partner Lee McEvilly up front, as Chris Llewellyn switched flank to the
left and goal scorer Michael Proctor played out on the right.
A heavy rain shower prior to the game made for slick playing conditions
and it was the home side that forced the early play with Derek Asamoah
in the thick of the action.
He made many early runs down the channels in an attempt to stretch the
Wrexham defence and from one of these his shot to the near post was well
gathered by Anthony Williams in the Wrexham goal.
Shrewsbury flashed another shot wide of the target and Wrexham had a
lucky escape after Llewellyn lost out in the tackle to Asamoah and Steve
Evans was forced to head behind after Williams had left his line to
narrow down the angle.
The corner was swung in to Ankle Cooke who glanced the ball to the far
post, which Valentine clearance off the line but this struck Steve Evans
in the six yard box and we were fortunate to see the ball rebound off
him onto the roof of the net.
The best we could offer in reply were two efforts from long range that
were blocked away by the home defence as both keepers remained
relatively untested for the open stages of the game, despite the high
tempo start.
Asamoah looked the player most likely on the pitch and he again tested
Williams with a low shot to the near post but the Wrexham keeper dealt
comfortably considering the greasy conditions.
Both sides forced corners and free kicks towards the end of the first
half with Williams again making the right choice by punching clear on
both occasions to keep the home side out.
At the other end of the pitch, the ball in from Wrexham was lacking in
quality and the Shrewsbury defence cleared without any scares.
Valentine was lucky to escape without a booking following a rash
challenge down by the corner flag but the game remained goalless as the
players headed in for half time.
There were no changes from either side during the break, and it was the
home side that again started the better side following the restart as
Shrewsbury made good progress down their left flank but a solid
challenge from Steve Evans was required to stop Asamoah bursting into
the area.
The best chance of the evening fell to Wrexham after Shrewsbury were
penalised for a foul just inside their own half. The award of the free
kick was greeted by ironic cheers from the Wrexham fans, as the majority
of the decisions from Premiership referee Andy D’Urso had gone the way
of the home side.
Simon Spender delivered the free kick to the far post and Chris
Llewellyn managed to find space but he headed horribly over the bar,
despite being unmarked and having plenty of time.
Michael Proctor put in a lot of hard work during the game and he had a
big influence as the game wore on.From a Simon
Spender short throw, Proctor turned well on the ball and almost picked
out McEvilly in the box. Shrewsbury managed to clear and as the ball ran
lose on edge of the box, Proctor dived it and picked up the game’s first
booking for a foul on Drummond.
Ryan Valentine soon followed his team mate into the book for a needless
foul on the halfway line and Chris Llewellyn made it three bookings on
the night for Wrexham, although his foul by the corner flag halted a
promising Shrewsbury attack down the right.
Shrewsbury were the first side to make a change with twenty minutes left
when top scorer Michel Symes replaced Andy Cooke up front but it was
Wrexham who were growing in confidence, as Shrewsbury looked to have ran
out of ideas with the threat of Asamoah now nullified.
Wrexham were pegged back by a strange offside flag when Jim Whitley
looked likely to burst through towards goal but the flag was raised
against McEvilly who did not even touch the ball!
But with time running out, Wrexham repeated the trick of Saturday by
scoring with eleven minutes left on the clock.
A Shrewsbury attack down their left broke down and this allowed Spender
to head forward and he latched onto Proctor’s knock down in the box.
Spender returned the ball low to Proctor and he smashed the ball into
the roof of the net to send the travelling Wrexham fans behind the goal
into wild celebrations.
Shrewsbury scarified defender Richard Hope for Leo Fortune-West during
the last ten minutes but the home side failed to carve out any openings
as the game ran into three minutes of injury time.
Their goalkeeper, Scott Shearer, came up for a late corner but Wrexham
broke quickly from this and Williams picked out Chris Llewellyn with a
long range pass from the left touchline. Shearer had just recovered back
to his goal line and managed to turn Llewellyn’s shot around the post.
This allowed Wrexham to run down the time of the clock for superb
celebrations between fans and players after the final whistle had
sounded.
Proctor’s first goal for the club extended our winning run to three
games, with three clean sheets, and similar performances in the final
two games will secure our status as a Football League club. |
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Match Reaction |
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Brian Carey: "I'm delighted with the win and the
players did really, really well, but I have to stress that we are still in a
relegation fight. We haven't done anything yet and must maintain our
performances over the next two weekends. We came here with a bit of plan and
I glad to say it worked out! It might not have been the best spectacle to
watch, but it certainly was exciting at times, with so much at stake for
both teams. This was a typically gritty performance which delights managers,
as we didn't give anything away and restricted Shrewsbury's chances. When
you come into games like tonight's your back four and the goalkeeper have to
do well, but credit also the midfield and forwards as everyone battled
really hard. Cleansheets, and that's three in a row, are what managers look
for as they will win you things. Yes you have to score goals at the other
end, but every challenge for honours is based on solid defending and
cleansheets. We have struggled for goals this season, but thankfully we
grabbed one this evening." [Source:
Wrexham FC]
Gary Peters: "It was disappointing. The tempo of the
game of was good and it was an exciting game for everybody but it think our
selection of pass was poor and we didn't do well enough the score goals. It
was always going to be a tight game which would have been won by the odd
goal. We needed to do better when we were possession in their half and we
gave possession away too easily, that's about it. If you don't keep
possession then you don't make chances and we didn't make enough chances.
It's about concentration and not making any mistakes but we made the mistake
to let them in." [Source:
Shrewsbury Town FC - click here for more] |
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|
Shrewsbury Town |
|
Starting XI:
| 31 |
Scott Shearer |
| 25 |
Luke Jones |
| 08 |
Kelvin Langmead |
| 05 |
Richard Hope
 83' |
| 23 |
Marc Tierney |
| 14 |
Ben Davies |
| 19 |
David Edwards |
| 04 |
Stuart Drummond |
| 03 |
Neil Ashton |
| 09 |
Andrew Cooke
 71' |
| 10 |
Derek Asamoah |
Subs:
| 18 |
Steven Leslie |
| 21 |
Chris MacKenzie (GK) |
| 24 |
Michaelm Symes
 71' |
| 28 |
Sagi Burton |
| 29 |
Leo Fortune-West
83' |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
4 |
| Shots on Target: |
3 |
| Shots off Target: |
1 |
| Possession: |
53% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
13 |
| Corners: |
4 |
| Yellow Cards: |
0 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
|
|
Wrexham |
|
Starting XI:
| 33 |
Anthony Williams |
| 14 |
Simon Spender |
| 04 |
Shaun Pejic |
| 05 |
Steve Evans |
| 03 |
Ryan Valentine
 |
| 18 |
Michael Prcotor
 |
| 08 |
Danny Williams |
| 32 |
Jeff Whitley |
| 11 |
Chris Llewellyn
|
| 23 |
Neil Roberts |
| 09 |
Lee McEvilly |
Subs:
| 02 |
Lee Roche |
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 15 |
Mike Williams |
| 20 |
Matty Done |
| 26 |
Robbie Garrett |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
6 |
| Shots on Target: |
4 |
| Shots off Target: |
2 |
| Possession: |
% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
19 |
| Corners: |
2 |
| Yellow Cards: |
2 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
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