Grimsby Town 1

Danny North 68'

Wrexham 0

 

Saturday 12 January 2008

 

Kick Off @ 15:00



Wrexham

Starting XI:
12 Gareth Ward
28 Phil Bolland
05 Steve Evans
06 Richard Hope
02 Simon Spender
34 Danny Sonner
07 Mark Jones 72'
09 Neil Roberts
03 Ryan Valentine
33 Paul Hall
21 Marc Williams 81'
Substitutes:
01 Anthony Williams (GK)
04 Shaun Pejic
10 Michael Proctor
19 Andrew Flemming 72'
20 Matty Done 81'
Stats:
9 Shots on Goal
5 Shots on Target
4 Shots off Target
54% Possession
13 Fouls Conceded
5 Corners
0 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Grimsby Town

Starting XI:
01 Phillip Barnes
25 Robert Atkinson
06 Nick Fenton 81'
03 Tom Newey
14 Sam Hird 46'
17 Nick Hegarty
08 Paul Bolland
04 James Hunt
02 Jamie Clarke 61'
19 Gary Jones
09 Danny North
Substitutes:
07 Peter Till 46'
10 Ciaran Toner 61'
13 Gary Montgomery (GK)
15 Justin Whittle 81'
20 Andy Taylor
Stats:
14 Shots on Goal
8 Shots on Target
6 Shots off Target
46% Possession
9 Fouls Conceded
12 Corners
1 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes

Venue: Blundell Park
Attendance: 4,084
Half Time: Grimsby 0 Wrexham 0
Referee: Graham Salisbury

Match Incidents

42' James Hunt (Grimsby)
68' Danny North (Grimsby)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast


BBC: Grimsby 1-0 Wrexham


Grimsby Town FC: Northy Slays The Dragons


TEAMtalk: Mariners down lowly Dragons


Wales on Sunday: Dragons heading towards the abyss


Wrexham FC: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 0


Wrexham MAD: Grimsby Town 1 Wrexham 0

League Two Results

Bradford 3 Notts County 0
Brentford 2 Chesterfield 1
Chester 0 Mansfield 1
Darlington 3 Bury 0
Grimsby 1 Wrexham 0
Lincoln City 1 Rotherham 3
Milton Keynes Dons 0 Barnet 1
Morecambe 1 Dag & Red 0
Peterborough 0 Macclesfield 1
Stockport 2 Accrington Stanley 0
Wycombe 0 Rochdale 1
Hereford v Shrewsbury (Sunday)

League Two Table

    PLD GD PTS
1 MK Dons 26 27 57
2 Rotherham 25 17 49
3 Hereford 24 17 46
4 Darlington 23 24 43
5 Chesterfield 25 14 43
6 Peterborough 25 13 43
7 Wycombe 26 7 43
8 Morecambe 25 6 42
9 Stockport 26 3 39
10 Rochdale 23 5 38
11 Chester 25 2 36
12 Brentford 26 -9 35
13 Shrewsbury 25 2 34
14 Grimsby 26 -7 33
15 Accrington Stanley 26 -11 33
16 Barnet 24 -5 32
17 Bradford 24 -1 30
18 Macclesfield 26 -13 26
19 Bury 24 -7 24
20 Notts County 25 -13 23
21 Lincoln City 26 -17 22
22 Dag & Red 25 -20 21
23 Mansfield 24 -10 19
24 Wrexham 24 -24 15

Next Five Games

Sat 19 Jan: MK Dons (h) 15:00

Sat 26 Jan: Hereford (a) 15:00

Tue 29 Jan: Morecambe (a) 19:45

Sat 02 Feb: Darlington (h) 14:30

Sat 09 Feb: Peterborough (a) 15:00

Match Report

Wrexham fell to an eighth successive defeat and are now seven points adrift of safety at the bottom of League Two following the one goal defeat at Grimsby.

It was a much improved performance from Wrexham and this was a game we should have at least picked a point from but another mistake midway through the second half gifted Grimsby all three points courtesy of a goal from Danny North.

The first half performance saw Wrexham on top in terms of chances and possession and it took a superb save from Barnes to deny debutant Paul Hall early on as the experienced striker combined well with youngster Marc Williams to trouble the Grimsby defence.

There were scares at the other end with Grimsby going close on a number of occasions but it was a much more solid display from an organised Wrexham defence and midfield.

Wrexham did tire off in the second half and you could sense the home side coming back strong in the game but the manner of the goal was again disappointing as Phil Bolland was caught ball watching as North went onto notch his sixth of the season despite the best efforts of Steve Evans on the goal line.

Brian Little gave league debuts to the four new signings this week with Gareth Ward starting in goal and Phil Bolland formed a back three with Steve Evans and Richard Hope who had recovered from his ankle injury.

Danny Sonner added the experience we required in midfield alongside Mark Jones and Neil Roberts as Wrexham deployed five across the midfield with Simon Spender and Ryan Valentine at wing backs.

Mark Jones did have the license to support the front two of Hall and Williams but it was the home side who had the first chance of the game when Gary Jones was left unmarked from a corner but he could only steer his header wide of the target.

Wrexham responded in the twelfth minute and Paul Hall showed what we had been missing up front as he turned and struck a fierce shot that was destined for the top corner until Barnes somehow blocked his shot and it was a Grimsby defender who reacted the quickest to clear the ball that bounced back across the Grimsby goal.

Chances were few and far between in a tight opening to the game and it took a header from Steve Evans to clear off his line in the twentieth minute to keep the game goalless after Gavin Ward struggled with a cross and Nick Hegarty looked certain to score until the intervention from Evans.

Wrexham did up the pressure on the Grimsby defence around the half hour mark and four good chances went begging as the frustrations began to grow in the home stands.

A poor clearance from Barnes presented a good opportunity to Mark Jones and his curling cross come shot to the back post just evaded the head of Paul Hall.

Wrexham continued to press and Hall this timed turned provider when he turned his marker inside out down the left and delivered a low cross to the near post for striker partner Marc Williams to stab wide.

Marc Williams then returned the compliment moments later when he took down a clearance in space on the half way line and delivered a delightful through ball for Hall but the striker never looked composed when running through and Atkinson managed to track his run to block his shot away for a corner from inside of the area.

The corner caused more nervous moments in the Grimsby box when they failed to clear the ball in from Mark Jones and this resulted in Marc Williams having a shot cleared off the line and Richard Hope dragged the rebound narrowly wide of the post.

This was a good spell of pressure from Wrexham and was the best football we had played in a long time but it was Grimsby who almost went into half time a goal to the good.

Steve Evans made a mess of his clearance with five minutes of the half left and Jones could only divert the ball into the path of Paul Bolland but his shot ricocheted off the bar and rebounded to safety.

It was no surprise that Grimsby made a change at half time when Sam Hird was replaced by Peter Till and it was the home side that started the second period the stronger of the two sides.

Grimsby did force a number of corners in the first half but Ward was rarely troubled and chances were again at a premium in the second half for both sides.

Gavin Ward showed all his experience when Peter North went through on goal but the keeper just forced him wide by standing up to him and the striker ran the ball out of play.

A delay in proceedings occurred on the hour mark when referee Graham Salisbury limped off to be replaced by his assistant but Wrexham were struggling to make any in roads in the second half.

The closest we came was in the sixty fifth minutes when Barnes had to cut out a cross from Hall but Wrexham were undone by a simple long ball from a free kick three minutes later as Grimsby grabbed the only goal of the game.

Phil Bolland was caught ball watching as a routine free kick from the Grimsby half was played forward and this allowed North to get a clear run of goal.

Ward was quickly off his line but he was caught in no mans land as North took advantage of the bouncing ball to lift it over the keeper and Steve Evans was inches away of clearing the ball off the line but the linesman was well positioned to flag for the goal.

There was more bad news for Wrexham three minutes later when Mark Jones went down with a hamstring injury whilst chasing a Grimsby player and was left in agony on the half way line as the home side broke up field.

It took a double save from Ward to prevent the home side from doubling their advantage when he first denied Gary Jones with a low save and Ward reacted quickly to block the rebound from North.

The break in play allowed Mark Jones to receive treatment and he left the field on a stretcher to be replaced by youngster Andy Flemming who was playing his first game under Brian Little.

There was a double substitution for Wrexham with ten minutes left with Neil Roberts and Marc Williams were replaced by Michael Proctor and Matty Done.

This forced a change in formation with Wrexham switching to 4-4-2 and Steve Evans pushed up from the back with Paul Hall moving out to the right wing.

Clear chances were again in short supply and apart from a positive run from Matty Done, we never threatened the Grimsby back line.

Even with six minutes of injury time to be played, we never tested Barnes in the Grimsby goal and when a late free kick missed the head of Hope and drifted out the final whistle sounded soon after.

The players did look visibly dejected at the end, as it was game we should have at least picked up a point from but the new signings have added a noticeable shape to the team but it is points rather than performances that will confirm our destiny come the end of the season.

Match Reaction

Brian Little: "It's so disappointing that we still haven't come away with something, although it was a much better performance. We have introduced a number of new lads and there was a good spirit in the dressing room. We knew they'd try something different in the second half, and at time to time they got the better of us. But the display in the first half was more than competent. The early shot from Paul [Hall] looked like it was going in and how the keeper managed to keep it out I don't quite know. That would have made a difference for us, we needed one of them to go in. The first half I was very pleased and we have said in the dressing room that there is something to build on, but still the points are the most important thing and we haven't got any again. We are working hard and we are trying hard, and if we look at the last four games then we have been going close. It's not easy for our fans to swallow or me to take, but we will work again on things this week like team formation and we will try to improve." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here for more]