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Match Report |
With Wrexham looking odds on to record a
third successive draw in the league, visitors Stockport struck with
virtually the last touch of a match that was destined to remain
goalless.
The scoreline was cruel on Wrexham with both teams not looking likely to
score and the nil-nil scoreline would have been a fair reflection of the
game until Stockport struck in injury time after Paul Mitchell had
wasted Wrexham’s best chance in the last ten minutes.
Wrexham showed two changes from the side that recorded a draw at
Darlington with Matty Done starting on the wing ahead of Simon Spender,
who did not make the bench after scoring on the weekend, and there was a
debut for on loan midfielder Robbie Garrett who started in midfield as a
replacement for the injured Steve Evans with Danny Williams dropping
back into the back four.
Wrexham started brightly and dominated the early exchanges without
threatening the Stockport goal. This set the tone for the whole ninety
minutes with good approach play from both sides frequently let down by
the final ball in as defences remained on top.
Wrexham’s tempo was good from the off and for once they took the game to
the opposition by looking to spread the ball wide at every opportunity.
On loan players Paul Mitchell and Robbie Garret did well in midfield by
disrupting the opposition attacks and, although not spectacular, they
did do the basics well but both Llewellyn and Done were largely
contained by Stockport’s full backs in the first half.
Wrexham’s best chances did come from set plays with Matty Done putting
Stockport’s keeper under pressure early on by whipping the ball into the
box from out wide.
McEvilly tested Hennessey in the Stockport goal with a shot that the
keeper did well to hold onto and Stockport went close when Ingham held
well from a shot that was fired in from outside of the area.
Wrexham then had the best chance of the game and it was a no surprise it
came from a corner that Done curled out to the near post from where
Mitchell could only divert his header into the welcoming hands of
Hennessey.
Ingham was at full stretch as the half was approaching its end when
Poole broke clear of the Wrexham midfield for the first time in the
evening but he fired narrowly wide after the Wrexham defence were too
slow in closing him down.
Llewellyn responded for Wrexham when he got in down the right side of
the area but he shot wide when virtually on the touch line when instead
he should have been looking for a team mate in the centre as the first
half ended goalless.
Both teams failed to make any changes during the break and it was
Stockport who started the second half in positive fashion when a shot
was flashed across the six yard box that just evaded a striker in the
centre.
Wrexham’s main outlet was Matty Done but after reaching the by line on a
couple of occasions the winger was unable to get his cross past the full
back although he did win a couple of corners in quick succession that
the well organised Stockport defence cleared without any problems.
Done also had a shot on goal from the edge of the area but this went
wide of the far post with Llewellyn close to getting on the end of.
Llewellyn then took advantage of a mis-timed clearance but after
advancing to the edge of the area he fired disappointingly high and wide
after both McEvilly and Marc Williams made runs to create the space he
required for his shot.
Wrexham’s other loan signing made his debut just before the half way
point in the second half when Cherno Samba replaced Marc Williams. This
resulted in a slight change up front with Llewellyn moving inside to
partner McEvilly and Samba playing out on the wing.
Samba’s first piece of action in a Wrexham shirt was a determined run
down the right touch line that resulted in a corner for Wrexham but
again the ball in lacked any quality and Stockport comfortably cleared
the danger.
Lee McEvilly, who twice went down with a foot injury in the first half,
lasted until the 77th minute with his last contribution being a right
footed shot that went wide before he was replaced by Jamie Reed.
Stockport’s attacks were rare in the second half but Ingham did well to
parry down a powerful shot from Poole and the Wrexham defence managed to
clear the danger away.
Wrexham were the team still most likely to break the dead lock and in
the final ten minutes Done set up a chance for substitute Reed but he
fired over after taking the ball down at the back post.
Done was in the thick of it again and this time looked to had delivered
the ball on a plate for Mitchell but he lost his footing on the edge of
the six yard box with the goal at his mercy and Samba later on fired
into the wall from a free kick after Llewellyn was pulled down.
Ryan Valentine then rescued Wrexham with two well time blocks, the
second of these being a crunching tackle inside of the area, but Wrexham
were conceding far too many free kicks and this ultimately led to their
down fall in the final attack of the game.
Stockport made their last change just before the board for three minutes
of stoppage time went up and Dickinson made the most of his short time
on the pitch by heading in from close range after a deep free kick was
flicked on inside of the area.
This was cruel on Wrexham, who were unable to reply with the 30 seconds
of time remaining, and it was stunned silence that marked the final
whistle from the home fans as you simply could not believe that Wrexham
managed to throw a point away when they deserved all three. |
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Match Reaction |
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Brian Carey: "It was a kick in the teeth. As I have
just said to the lads, it not actually what happens here, it is the way that
you respond to it. It looked like the game was going to be 0-0 and the point
was cruelly taken away from us. We had a couple of chances, but I don't
think that in the second half we didn't match the heights of the first half.
Overall, I thought that we were well worth a draw. I thought that overall it
was a solid, decent performance but we just needed that bit of luck to
possibly have won it. I just thought that our quality in the final third was
lacking a bit." [Source:
Wrexham FC - click here for more] |
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Wrexham |
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Starting XI:
| 01 |
Michael Ingham |
| 02 |
Lee Roche |
| 04 |
Shaun Pejic |
| 08 |
Danny Williams
 |
| 03 |
Ryan Valentine |
| 11 |
Chris Llewellyn |
| 18 |
Paul Mitchell |
| 26 |
Robbie Garrett |
| 20 |
Matty Done |
| 09 |
Lee McEvilly
78' |
| 21 |
Marc Williams
65' |
Subs:
| 13 |
Michael Jones (GK) |
| 15 |
Mike Williams |
| 19 |
Andy Fleming |
| 22 |
Cherno Samba
65' |
| 27 |
Jamie Reed
 78' |
Stats:
| Shots on Goal: |
16 |
| Shots on Target: |
7 |
| Shots off Target: |
9 |
| Possession: |
51% |
| Fouls Conceded: |
19 |
| Corners: |
7 |
| Yellow Cards: |
1 |
| Red Cards: |
0 |
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Match Notes |
| Venue |
Racecourse Ground |
| Attendance |
4,060 |
| Half Time |
Wrexham 0 Stockport County 0 |
| Referee |
A Hall (West Midlands) |
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90'
90'
