Wrexham looked to be on course for their
first three points away from home since August when the introduction of
Lee McEvilly as a half time substitute appeared to have turned the game
in their favour.
After a poor first half, when Wrexham only managed one meaningful shot at goal, McEvilly’s introduction paid instant dividends when he opened the
scoring minutes after the restart and it got even better for Wrexham
when Chris Llewellyn turned in a second after a well struck shot from
McEvilly was only parried by the Rochdale keeper.
The second goal forced former Wrexham player, and now Rochdale caretaker
manager, Keith Hill, into making a double substitution and this brought
the homeside back in the game, although Wrexham will be disappointed in
the manner they conceded both goals.
Wrexham showed just one change from the team that beat Darlington on the
weekend with Shaun Pejic recovering from his calf strain to replace
Gareth Evans alongside Mike Williams in the centre of the defence and
they had to be alert early on as Rochdale clearly opted
for the route one option with their 4-3-3 formation.Rochdale did go close early on when Wrexham failed to deal with a ball
across their six yard box but the striker completely mis-controlled at
the back post, with the ball spinning off him and up into the arms of
Ingham.
Rochdale’s other effort in the opening stages was a shot from Dolan but
his effort disappeared into the stand behind Ingham’s goal but the
Wrexham keeper was responsible for the next scare when he failed to
collect a cross he came for whilst under pressure but Rochdale failed to
make the most of this chance.
Rochdale did have
the best of the opening exchanges and were winning more than their fair
share of headers but a Wrexham player was always on hand to win the
second ball as the game remained goalless for the opening fifteen
minutes.
Ingham again flapped at another high cross in, this time completely
misjudging the flight of the ball but thankfully for Wrexham, the ball
drifted out safely for a goal kick at the back post.
The best Wrexham could offer by this point was a tame shot from the edge
of the area by Llewellyn that trickled through to the under worked
Matthew Gilks in the Rochdale goal. Gilkes was at full stretch just
before the half hour mark after Marc Williams had found Ryan Valentine in
space down the left but he dragged his low shot wide of the far post.
Rochdale put the best move of the game together just after the half hour
mark and should have been celebrating the opening goal of the game.
Chris Dagnall was picked out with a ball down the left channel by John
Doolan. Dagnall collected the ball just before it went out of play and
after working some space, he delivered a perfect ball to the back post
but Glenn Murray some how headed wide despite being unmarked from only
two yards out.
Wrexham did at least show some threat in the final stages of the first
half but they were unable to muster any efforts on goal and the lack of
presence upfront was evident as Wrexham failed to trouble Rochdale
despite forcing a number of corners in the first half.
Wrexham certainly introduced a presence up front with Lee McEvilly
replacing Marc Williams during the half time break and it only took the
former Rochdale striker three minutes to open the scoring with his first goal of the
season.
Wrexham should have found themselves a goal down moments before their
goal when they failed to deal with a left wing corner that Murray headed
goalwards that Ingham somehow clawed off his line and Mike Williams was
in the right place to boot clear.
The opening goal did arrive when a flick from Chris Llewellyn found McEvilly in space down the
middle and he made no mistake with a low drive across Gilkes with a well
struck shot from the edge of the area.
McEvilly almost doubled his and Wrexham’s tally when he
headed a Ferguson corner straight at Gilkes but the Rochdale keeper was unable to
hold onto a McEvilly shot in the fifty-fith as Wrexham grabbed their second
of the afternoon.
Ferguson picked out McEvilly in space on the right side of the area and
after taking the ball down on his chest, McEvilly drove in a low right
footed shot that Gilkes could only spill into the patch of Llewellyn and
he turned the ball in past the defenders on the line for what looked like a
comfortable two goal lead.
This forced Rochdale into making a double substitution and they pulled
one back just after the hour mark with question marks aimed at Michael
Ingham when he came for a cross that he was never getting and with
Murray beating Pejic to the ball, it travelled into the empty net at the
point where Ingham should have been standing for what would have been a comfortable catch.
Wrexham then got lucky when a ball in from the left caused all problems in the
box and with Ingham and the two centre halves on the ground, the ball
ran lose to the far post where Roche reacted well but at the expense of a
corner.
Wrexham initially dealt well with the ball that was swung into the six
yard box with Mike Williams struggling to head clear to the edge of the area but
Thompson beat Llewellyn to the ball and headed goalwards powerfully
where Ingham just appeared to stand and watch as it crashed off the bar
above him, with Dagnall reacting the quickest to scramble the ball in for
the equaliser with twelve minutes left.
You sensed that there was now only one team who were going on to win the
game and Rochdale almost did this in injury time when Thompson was
picked out by Murray with a cross from the left but Ingham reacted well
to deny Rochdale’s top goal scorer with a reflex save.
Wrexham were relieved to here the sounds of the final
whistle when it arrived after they found themselves hanging on for a
point when it should have been a comfortable three following the
excellent start to the second half. |
57'
57'
57'
57'