Wrexham 0

 

Rotherham United 1

Chris O'Grady 78'

Saturday 15 September 2007

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Wrexham
Starting XI:
01 Anthony Williams
02 Simon Spender
05 Steve Evans
06 Richard Hope
03 Ryan Valentine
14 Eifion Williams
07 Mark Jones 46'
18 Levi Mackin 67'
20 Matty Done  67'
09 Neil Roberts
10 Michael Proctor
Substitutes:
04 Shaun Pejic
11 Chris Llewellyn 67'
12 Matt Crowell 46'
13 Michael Jones (GK)
16 Silvio Spann 67'
Stats:
7 Shots on Goal
4 Shots on Target
3 Shots off Target
50% Possession
13 Fouls Conceded
11 Corners
3 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Rotherham United
Starting XI:
01 Andy Warrington
02 Dale Tonge
06 Graham Coughlan
04 Danny Harrison
12 Marc Joseph
07 Andy Todd
11 Stephen Brogan
14 Marcus Bean
08 Peter Holmes
09 Derek Holmes 67'
28 Bruce Dyer 80'
Substitutes:
15 Chris O'Grady 67'
17 Marc Newsham 80'
19 Liam King
22 Natt Kerr
27 Jamie Annerson (GK)
Stats:
12 Shots on Goal
7 Shots on Target
5 Shots off Target
50% Possession
19 Fouls Conceded
7 Corners
1 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes
Venue: Racecourse Ground
Attendance: 3,711
Half Time: Wrexham 0 Rotherham 0
Referee: Steve Bratt

Match Incidents
36' Ryan Valentine (Wrexham)
53' Matty Done (Wrexham)
78' Chirs O'Grady (Rotherham)
90' Marcus Bean (Rotherham)
90' Michael Proctor (Wrexham)

Match Reports

Wrexham Dragons Podcast

BBC: Wrexham 0-1 Rotherham

TEAMtalk: Millers grind out win at Wrexham

Wales on Sunday: O’Grady winner makes it hairy for boss Carey

Wrexham FC: Wrexham 0 Rotherham 1

Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 0 Rotherham United 1

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

League Two Table
    PLD GD PTS
1 Darlington 6 9 14
2 Chesterfield 6 7 14
3 Shrewsbury 6 5 13
4 Chester 6 6 11
5 Hereford 6 5 11
6 Milton Keynes Dons 6 7 10
7 Bradford 6 1 10
8 Wycombe 6 0 10
9 Peterborough 6 2 9
10 Rotherham 6 1 9
11 Morecambe 6 -1 8
12 Brentford 6 -2 8
13 Macclesfield 6 0 7
14 Stockport 6 -1 7
15 Notts County 6 -2 7
16 Barnet 6 -1 6
17 Lincoln City 6 -4 6
18 Accrington Stanley 6 -5 6
19 Rochdale 5 -3 5
20 Dag & Red 6 -5 5
21 Grimsby 6 -4 4
22 Mansfield 6 -5 4
23 Bury 6 -5 4
24 Wrexham 5 -5 3

Next Five Games

Tue 18 Sep: Macclesfield (h) 19:15

Sat 22 Sep: Stockport (a) 15:00

Sat 29 Sep: Lincoln (h) 15:00

Tue 02 Oct: Chesterfield (a) 17:45

Fri 05 Oct: Accrington (a) 19:45

Match Report
Wrexham served up a second successive disappointing home display and remain bottom of the Football League as a result.

It was a case of déjà vu for the home fans with Wrexham again struggling in midfield and it was no surprise that Rotherham took their chance in the second half to take home the three points.

Rotherham were also a poor side but what is more worrying is that we never looked like breaking them down and their keeper, Andy Warrington, had a quiet afternoon except for two late saves from our substitutes.

Danny Williams missed out through injury in midfield and he was replaced with Levi Mackin but there was a surprise on the right wing with Chris Llewellyn dropped to the bench. Eifion Williams started in his place but many Wrexham fans still feel his best position would be up front.

Chances were at a premium as the game got off to a leisurely pace with a blocked free kick from Matty Done our only shot on goal.

Rotherham were not much better and Simon Spender was alert at the far post to head behind a quality right wing cross from Holmes that had cut out our centre pairing of Hope and Evans.

Wrexham’s best move of the game came mid way through the first half when Proctor flicked the ball into the path of Neil Roberts who then set Matty Done through down the left.

Done’s cross was too deep for Proctor but Eifion Williams almost rescued the situation when he collected the ball on the right side of the area but his shot at goal was blocked by the Rotherham defence.

A rare mistake from Anthony Williams almost led to the opening goal when his poor distribution gifted the ball back to Rotherham but he was relieved when Derek Holmes headed straight at him after Valentine had failed to cut out Harrison’s cross.

Wrexham switched Eifion Williams and Matty done for the final ten minutes of the first half but it was Rotherham who finished the stronger and had three chances to have opened the scoring before the interval.

The first fell to Andy Todd but he flashed his shot wide of the near post and Bruce Dyer shot straight at Williams from the edge of the area after Mackin had conceded possession.

The third chance was the best of the lot and came after Rotherham doubled up on Valentine down their right and Bruce Dyer supplied a perfect cross to the far post but Holmes, despite only being six yards out, headed onto the post and just stood a watched instead of going for the rebound and Hope managed to hack clear.

Wrexham forced into a change at half time with Mark Jones struggling with injury and he was replaced by Matty Crowell for his first start of the season.

Truthfully, the Wrexham midfield of Mackin and Jones were that ineffective, both players could not complain if they were replaced at the break and manager Brian Carey must have had some doubts by naming two central midfielders on the bench, Silvio Spann being the other option.

Wrexham did start the second half well and Michael Proctor had an early chance but the ball got stuck under his feet and he was unable to get a shot on goal.

Two corners caused problems in the Rotherham defence with Neil Roberts heading wide but this encouraging start slowly disappeared and Rotherham started to get back on top.

Peter Holmes was gifted a free header at the far post but he somehow headed wide after Harrison had delivered a deep cross from the right.

The chances continued to come Rotherham’s way but they finally had Anthony Williams at full stretch when Brogan had cut in from the left and fired in a shot that the Wrexham keeper did well to turn over his bar.

Rotherham continued to control the game at this point and Spender was forced to head behind at the far post as the away side piled the pressure on the Wrexham defence.

It was no surprise that Wrexham made their final two substitutions midway through the second half with Silvio Spann replacing Levi Mackin and with Michael Proctor waiting for his number to come up, it was Matty Done who left the field to be replaced by Chris Llewellyn and this decision did not go down well with the home crowd.

Rather strangely, it was Llewellyn who went up front to partner Neil Roberts with Proctor playing on the left but Llewellyn had an instant impact when he turned on the edge of the area and forced Warrington into his first save as he tipped the ball over the bar.

The resulting corner should have led to a dream debut for Spann but he headed wide from Crowell’s cross after being left unmarked on the penalty spot.

Rotherham also made a change at the same time as our double substitution with Chris O’Grady replacing Derek Holmes and he showed his team mates how to take your chances in emphatic style with twelve minutes left.

The Wrexham defence were very narrow when Peter Holmes broke the offside trap with a through ball for Andy Todd and his low cross was fired past Williams by O’Grady from ten yards out.

O’Grady was enjoying himself after coming on as substitute and a nutmeg on Evans led to another shooting chance but this time he curled the ball wide with five minutes left.

Wrexham were still struggling to create anything against a stubborn Rotherham defence and the closest we came was in injury time when Spann curled a free kick around the wall that Warrington turned behind and from the resulting corner, Neil Roberts saw his header cleared off the line.

Shortly after, the final whistle sounded and Wrexham were booed off the pitch for the second game running.

Match Reaction
Brian Carey: "When our chances came along we didn't take them, but they took the one that they had. We had numerous chances before they scored but it is all about taking your chances isn't it? It took us a while to get going, and one or two started to get a bit edgy which is a bit of a shame. I said to the lads to just get on with it and do what you want too and play your own game. Don't worry about what other people are thinking just get on with your own game. People can get frustrated and agitated, sometimes the crowd get on players backs and that doesn't help. I know that everybody is frustrated at the moment, none more so than my myself and the players. It did take us a while to get going, we had a couple of chances first half and if you score that changes the whole game but we didn't get it." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here for more]