Match Report

The game was even following the opening twenty minutes but despite a lot of decent passing and movement in midfield and up front, both keepers were yet to be tested with any shots on target.

Ryan Valentine ended up in the book for a late challenge on Simon Travis, which means he will be suspended for the visit of Rochdale on Wednesday night as this was his fifth yellow card of the season.

Wrexham forced a corner on the right wing and another good delivery from Ferguson was headed goalwards by John McAliskey but he was denied a goal on his home debut when Simon Travis was well positioned to hack clear off the line, although there were appeals from Wrexham for a goal.

Not to be deterred, Wrexham forced another corner in the 28th minute, this time down the left, and Ferguson’s delivery to the far post was powered goalwards by Steve Evans but this time Travis was unable to hack clear before the ball had crossed the line with the referee awarding the goal following the signal from his assistant.

Minutes later and Chris Llewellyn noticed the keeper off his line but his shot from 45 yards just cleared the crossbar but Hereford did fire a warning shot at the other end when Rose went close for the visitors after cutting in from the left.

Hereford then went even closer to equalising when Wrexham had failed to deal with the ball in from a set play. The ball was crossed back to the far post where Ingham managed to tip Sills’ header onto the bar with Ryan Valentine clearing the rebound to safety.

Valentine earned a corner for Wrexham following good play down the left and their nemesis on the line, Simon Travis, was on hand to deny John McAliskey for the second time after Danny Williams had won the initial header for Wrexham.

Lee Roche was caught off guard when Hereford broke clear from the corner and he had to wrestle Stuart Fleetwood to the ground and pick up a justifiable caution. It could have been worse for Wrexham when Valentine clashed with Fleetwood in the aftermath but the referee decided to give each player a talking to and Valentine was grateful as he was already on a yellow card.

Wrexham soaked up the two minutes of injury time and went off a goal to the good and just about deserved it after edging Hereford on chances although the visitors had most of the game without making much impact on the Wrexham goal.

The second half lacked as many chances as the first with both teams effectively cancelling each other out as no changes were made during half time. Matty Done had the first chance following the restart when good wing play allowed him to burst clear in the box but he curled the ball wide of the near post.

Dean Beckworth provided a good laughing opportunity when he tripped over the ball on the touchline to concede a throw in and he compounded his own woe by kicking the ball way to earn him self an unnecessary caution.

Danny Williams was lucky to escape with just conceding a free kick when Steve Evans held onto the ball too long and his clearance was charged down but the free kick was hit straight into the arms of Ingham by Fleetwood.

Mark Jones then did well for Wrexham down the right and after cutting back from the touch line his left footed shot went high and wide of the target. Done and Valentine then combined well down the left but there was no striker on hand to convert the centre from Valentine and the chance was lost.

After escaping with a yellow card earlier on in the half, referee Phil Joslin had little alternative to issue Danny Williams with a yellow card after he brought down Connell with a lunging challenge after the Wrexham defender had miss-controlled. The free kick was struck by Fleetwood straight at the wall with the rebound again straight into the arms of Ingham.

Crowell dragged a shot wide following good work across the face of the area from Done and Ferguson then conceded a free kick when he was harshly adjudged to have hand balled although the referee failed to notice the blatant pull on his shirt despite being yards from the incident. Fleetwood again took the free kick and this time Ingham was beaten after the ball curled around the wall but narrowly over the bar.

With fifteen minutes left, Wrexham introduced a fresh pair of legs down the right wing with Josh Johnson replacing Mark Jones, who had tired as the second half progressed.

Wrexham had a lucky escape with five minutes of the game left when a corner conceded by Ferguson was taken low to towards the edge of area where it was diverted into the six yard box but Fleetwood this time diverted the ball wide.

Josh Johnson gave a way free kick in the fourth and final minute of injury time with a shoulder charge but the Wrexham defence cleared the danger with Matty Done hacking well up field with the final whistle blowing soon after.

Match Reaction

Denis Smith: "Great to get back to keeping a clean sheet which was a major importance and it shows what strikers can do to help towards the defending. John McAliskey, especially in the first half, was absolutely outstanding and this meant that the ball wasn't coming back at us all the time as it had been in the previous games. Since John's come in we've held it up. Second half he tired a bit and Chris Llewellyn got a couple of knocks and its come back a little bit more but we've still looked fairly solid. The midfield two in Ferguson and Crowell were superb for me, they held their lines and kept the ball well. I'm pleased with the result from what was always going to be a tense game, what with the week that we've just had, but hopefully we're now back on track. I think in the first half we deserved to take at least one of the chances and we gave them problems on all of the free-kicks. Some people are telling me that McAliskey's header was over the line but we scored off the corner, which came straight after so that didn't really matter." [Source: Wrexham FC - lick here fore more]

Wrexham

Starting XI:

01	Michael Ingham
02	Lee Roche
08	Danny Williams
05	Steve Evans
03	Ryan Valentine
07	Mark Jones 47'
12	Matt Crowell
10	Darren Ferguson
20	Matty Done
22	John McAliskey
11	Chris Llewellyn

Subs:

13	Michael Jones (GK)
14	Simon Spender
15	Mike Williams
17	Josh Johnson 74'
18	Jon Newby

Stats:

Hereford United

Starting XI:

01	Wayne Brown
28	Dean Beckwith
05	Tamika Mkandawire
17	Martyn Giles
20	Alex Jeannin
09	Tim Sills
06	Robert Purdie
02	Simon Travis
04	Richard Rose 81'
10	Stuart Fleetwood
12	Alan Connell 66'

Subs:

07	Jon Wallis
08	Andy Ferrell 66'
14	Glyn Thompson (GK)
21	Luke Webb 81'
23	Phillip Gulliver

Stats:

Match Notes

Other Match Reports

Wrexham Dragons: Final Whistle Pod Cast

BBC: Wrexham 1-0 Hereford

TEAMtalk: Good Evans sees Dragons beat Bulls

Wrexham FC: Wrexham 1 Hereford United 0

Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 1 Hereford United 0

League 2 Results

Boston United 0 Rochdale 3
Bristol Rovers 1 Walsall 2
Bury 2 Barnet 2
Grimsby 0 Stockport 1
Macclesfield 3 Torquay 3
Mansfield 2 Accrington Stanley 2
Milton Keynes Dons 1 Chester 2
Notts County 1 Swindon 1
Peterborough 3 Hartlepool 5
Shrewsbury 2 Darlington 2
Wycombe 1 Lincoln City 3
Wrexham 1 Hereford 0 (Sun)

League 2 Table

Next Game

Rochdale (h), Coca Cola League 2

Wednesday 27 September 2006, Kick Off @19:45