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Match Report |
Wrexham conceded three goals against relegation
rivals for the second week running as Brentford overturned a 1-0 half
time deficit after Chris Llewellyn had opened the scoring late on in the
first half.
Brentford even had the luxury of missing a penalty after Llewellyn had
scored against the run of play but the Bees were by far the best team
throughout after they had ended their own run of five straight defeats
without a goal.
But Brentford had much more purpose about them after the break but an
calamity own goal from Steve Evans – his second in as many games – was
sandwiched in between a brace from Allan Connell handed the Bees a
deserved victory.
Brian Little looked as frustrated as what was left of the home crowd
after Connell completed the scoring with just over ten minutes left as
‘What a load of rubbish’ rang out around the Racecourse, and the New
Year transfer window cannot come to soon for a Wrexham side that had
little idea at both ends of the pitch.
Brian Little hinted in midweek that changes would be made to the
starting lineup but a completely new midfield and front line took
everyone by surprise.
Neil Roberts and Chris Llewellyn moved up front and this created room
for Silvio Spann and Mark Jones to start following their return from
injury alongside Sam Aiston, who was the only player to come away with
any credit from this game.
The only other change saw Neil Taylor recalled at the expense of Ryan
Valentine at left wing back.
It was Brentford, under the guidance of assistant manager Andy Scott,
who started the brighter and this really set the tone for the whole
ninety minutes but the closest the Bees came to scoring was when Connell
curled a free kick wide of the post and Ryan Dickinson headed at Anthony
Williams from close range.
Brentford were always looking to expose the space in between the Wrexham
wing backs and the back three, and this tactic was paying dividends for
Ryan Dickinson down the Brentford left.
Even when he had markers around him, he skipped past defenders on
regular occasions and delivered teasing crosses that the Wrexham defence
struggled to clear.
Wrexham struggled to register a shot on target and the closest we came
was when Baines sent in a rasping drive from twenty five yards that just
cleared the bar as Dickinson this time went close for Brentford with
another free kick that went narrowly wide.
Dickinson managed to trick the hapless referee, Anthony Taylor, into
awarding a free kick as he dived over the leg of Pejic and it was a
double punishment for the Wrexham defender as he was wrongly booked for
committing no foul.
Wrexham failed to pick up from the resulting free kick and when the ball
was curled in, Lee Thorpe was left unmarked in the box to glance a
header that struck the far post and the red shirts eventually cleared.
Wrexham were also down to ten men at this point after Spann went down
following an innocuous challenge that resulted in Spann being replaced
by Robbie Garrett with the midfielder walking down the tunnel in some
discomfort holding his ribs.
Wes Baines became the second Wrexham player to end up in the book after
he clipped the heels of the impressive Dickinson but again it was a
harsh decision from a referee that was beginning to frustrate the home
crowd.
But, despite all of the play coming from Brentford, it was Wrexham who
opened the scoring with four minutes of the half left following our only
flowing move of the game.
Sam Aiston had constantly found space down the Brentford right and he
was finally picked out by Williams down the left flank.
Aiston had the vision to pick out Neil Roberts in space at the far post
and his header back across goal was headed in by an unmarked Chris
Llewellyn.
But Wrexham’s lead was in jeopardy from virtually the restart when
Dickinson went down under very little contact from Pejic in the area and
Taylor unbelievably pointed to the spot but justice was done when
Williams dived low to his left to deny Thorpe from the spot.
Osborne was then lucky not to see red for a dreadful lunge on Robbie
Garrett and was lucky to escape with a yellow, as Wrexham almost scored
an unlikely second when the ball broke to Llewellyn on the edge of the
area but he poked his shot wide of the far post.
There was still time for another Brentford chance in what was an
incident packed last five minutes to the first half when Connell headed
over from close range after escaping the presence of the Wrexham
defence.
The second half started at a lot better pace than the first but chances
were still few and far between at both ends of the pitch but Brentford
still looked to have hand the wind knocked out of them after conceding
but they gradually worked themselves back into the game.
Mark Jones was replaced by Matty Done ten minuets following the restart
as Neil Roberts dropped back into midfield in order to protect our
slender advantage and another good run from Aiston set up an opportunity
for Llewellyn but his attempted chip went well over the bar.
Brentford also made a change with half and hour left when Shakes
replaced Ide and this moved paid dividends for the away side as Connell
headed past Williams for the equaliser after substitute Shakes skipped
past Taylor before supplying a quality cross from the right.
Five minutes later and Wrexham found themselves behind in the game when
substitute Skates missed the ball in a good position on the edge of the
area and, despite there being no danger, Steve Evans turned the ball
past Williams for his second own goal in as many games.
It was noticeable how Wrexham’s heads dropped following this goal and
Brian Little reacted by changing formations to a 4-4-2 with Michael
Proctor replacing Shaun Pejic but this change did not help matters as
Brentford but the game beyond any doubt soon after.
It was more calamity defending from Wrexham as they failed to cut out a
cross from the right and when Connell’s effort came back off the post,
Baines clearance rebounded off Steve Evans and back into the path of
Connell who made no mistake this time round.
This meant that a Brentford side that had gone five games without
scoring had scored three times against Wrexham in eleven, that’s eleven,
second half minutes!
Wrexham had chances towards the end when Proctor was halted when in a
goal scoring opportunity for a Wrexham free kick that the striker
blasted into the wall.
There was one more chance for Sam Aiston but he blazed over in the dying
seconds when played through by Llewellyn but the final whistle was
greeted with the inevitable boos but the January transfer window cannot
come too soon for a sorry Wrexham side. |
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Match Reaction |
| Brian Little: "I think that today showed me
the task ahead. In the second half, when we were arguably ahead against
the run of play, it was disappointing. It wasn't anything other than
panic. There was no reason for people to panic, but we panicked all
afternoon, which is poor. It is strange as we have worked so hard on the
training ground but we didn't transfer that to a match situation. We
were really poor today and we probably gave away more free-kicks in the
first 45 minutes than we have done recently. If we are doing that
regularly then it is a starting point for mistakes. All three goals were
shocking. The first goal, we are trying to win a ball on the edge of the
box that we don't need to win, the second goal doesn't need describing
really there is no reason in a match for it to end up in the net and the
third one was just a result of everyone's confidence having gone. Even
though we struggled to be the better side, when we got in and around the
area I thought that we looked okay." [Source:
Wrexham FC] |
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77'
55'
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77'
55'
32'