Wrexham 0

 

Dagenham & Redbridge 0

 

Monday 24 March 2008

 

Kick Off @ 15:00



Wrexham

Starting XI:
12 Gavin Ward
28 Phil Bolland
24 Gareth Evans
06 Richard Hope
02 Simon Spender 83'
29 Sam Aiston
34 Danny Sonner 46'
11 Chris Llewellyn
20 Matty Done
39 Drewe Broughton
10 Michael Proctor 78'
Substitutes:
09 Neil Roberts 46'
31 Wes Baines 83'
33 Paul Hall
35 Stuart Nicholson 78'
37 Jeff Whitley
Stats:
15 Shots on Goal
5 Shots on Target
10 Shots off Target
55% Possession
18 Fouls Conceded
6 Corners
2 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Dagenham & Redbridge

Starting XI:
01 Tony Roberts
20 Ross Smith
15 Anwar Uddin
34 Mark Aber
06 Shane Huke
33 Peter Gain
08 Glen Southam
11 David Rainford
12 Scott Griffiths
18 Ben Strevens 83'
14 Paul Benson
Substitutes:
03 Sam Sloma
05 Jonathon Boardman
23 Christopher Moore 83'
25 Solomon Taiwo
27 David Hogan (GK)
Stats:
6 Shots on Goal
2 Shots on Target
4 Shots off Target
45% Possession
9 Fouls Conceded
6 Corners
1 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes

Venue: Racecourse Ground
Attendance: 4,692
Half Time: Wrexham 0 Dag & Red 0
Referee: Anthony Taylor

Match Incidents

57' Drewe Broughton (Wrexham)
75' David Rainford (Dag & Red)
85' Chris Llewellyn (Wrexham)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast


BBC: Wrexham blunted by Daggers


Daily Post: Wrexham 0 Dag & Redbridge 0


Evening Leader: Wrexham 0 - 0 Dagenham and Redbridge


TEAMtalk: Profligacy ruins Racecourse class


Western Mail: Dragons facing an uphill struggle


Wrexham FC: Wrexham 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 0


Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 0

League Two Results

Accrington 0 MK Dons 1
Bradford 1 Chesterfield 0
Bury 2 Mansfield 0
Darlington 2 Morecambe 2
Grimsby 1 Brentford 2
Lincoln City 2 Hereford 2
Macclesfield 3 Barnet 0
Peterborough 1 Chester 0
Rochdale 4 Rotherham 1
Shrewsbury 0 Notts County 0
Wrexham 0 Dag & Red 0
Wycombe 0 Stockport 0

League Two Table

    PLD GD PTS
1 MK Dons 39 39 82
2 Peterborough 40 36 82
3 Hereford 39 24 74
4 Darlington 39 30 73
5 Stockport 39 16 69
6 Wycombe 40 12 67
7 Chesterfield 40 15 60
8 Rochdale 37 12 59
9 Grimsby 40 -1 55
10 Brentford 40 -11 55
11 Morecambe 39 -5 54
12 Rotherham 40 5 52
13 Bradford 38 1 51
14 Lincoln City 40 -13 49
15 Bury 40 -5 46
16 Barnet 37 -10 45
17 Accrington 40 -31 45
18 Shrewsbury 39 -6 44
19 Chester 40 -15 43
20 Dag & Red 40 -19 42
21 Macclesfield 40 -18 41
22 Notts County 39 -14 40
23 Mansfield 38 -19 33
24 Wrexham 37 -23 33

Next Five Games

Sat 29 Mar: Barnet (a) 15:00

Tue 01 Apr: Mansfield (a) 19:45

Sat 05 Apr: Macclesfield (h) 15:00

Tue 08 Apr: MK Dons (a) 19:45

Sat 13 Apr: Shrewsbury (a) 12:00

Match Report

Wrexham’s bid for survival took a blow after they failed to convert the huge number of chances and finished the game with Dagenham & Redbridge with a goalless draw.

Wrexham created enough chances to have won this game three times over but our inability to convert chances cost us dearly.

Dagenham only looked threatening on the break but the game should have been over for the visitors as early as the tenth minute as Wrexham dominated the early proceedings.

Enough chances were created during this opening spell to end the game as a contest but Wrexham’s wasteful finishing proved to be our downfall all afternoon as Dagenham almost capitalised on our missed opportunities at the death.

The facts of the game tell the whole story as with only five shots out of fifteen on target, Wrexham’s inability all season to convert chances cost valuable points and we are now seven points adrift of Notts County and safety after only one point over the Easter period.

Brian Little made changes to the formation and to the starting line up with Wrexham reverting to 3-5-2 for the kick off.

The tactical switch may have been brought about by the absence of a left back with Carl Tremarco and Neil Taylor failing to pass fitness tests and with Mike Williams away on international duty, Matty Done made a rare start as a left wing back.

Richard Hope also made a return to the starting line up in a three man defence and Neil Roberts made way in midfield to accommodate the tactical changes.

Dagenham had a couple of early half chances but it was Wrexham who started the game on top with the second of two early corners from Matty Done cleared off the line after Drewe Broughton had headed goalwards.

Sam Aiston was Wrexham’s main threat early on as he skipped past the Dagenham full back but Broughton was unable to get his shot away before the ball was cleared and Aiston soon after went for goal himself, dragging his low left footed shot wide of the target.

The pressure continued on the away defence and goalkeeper Tony Roberts only added to this by dropping a high Done cross but his defenders managed to clear the danger before Wrexham could convert the loose ball.

Dagenham also looked threatening from corners themselves with Wrexham struggling to clear the high looping balls in but Gavin Ward remained untested in the opening stages of the game.

Wrexham continued to dominate proceedings and Broughton should have done better with his header from Done’s cross that Roberts saved well midway through the first half.

This had been the best opening display from a Wrexham side in a long while as Aiston also headed wide and Michael Proctor was also denied by a last ditched challenge after Broughton had flicked the ball on for his strike partner.

Despite Wrexham’s positive start, Dagenham should have opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when Ben Strevens beat Phil Bolland to the initial header but Gareth Evans looked set to clear but he could only find Strevens with a poor clearance, and Wrexham got lucky as Dagenham’s leading scorer fired straight at Ward.

This was the start of a five minute spell for the visitors where they were on top and were finding a lot of joy down their left wing and a cross from Griffiths was well taken by Peter Gain, but his shot was blocked by the Wrexham defence.

Despite this spell from Dagenham, Wrexham continued to enjoy more of the ball and Broughton again should have done better as he glanced a Simon Spender cross wide of the far post.

There were more chances for Wrexham towards the end of the first half with Chris Llewellyn and Broughton having shots blocked but Proctor fired the last chance over the bar with a free kick from thirty yards.

Neil Roberts replaced Danny Sonner at half time as Wrexham continued to dominate proceedings at the start of the second half and Broughton and Proctor should have done better with their early chances.

Broughton again failed to bury a header from Done’s cross from the left and when the ball rebounded to Proctor, he struck the outside of the post from only six yards out.

More positive running from Aiston kept the visitors on the back foot at the start of the second half as they were failing to make any ground with clearances as the wind penned them back.

Despite all this possession, Wrexham were struggling to register shots on target with opportunities for Broughton, Aiston and Proctor all failing to trouble Roberts in the opposition goal.

Neil Roberts was immense as a second half substitute and a crunching tackle set up another chance for Broughton but he curled his left footed shot wide of the far post.

With Wrexham continuing to press forward, chances were starting to come at the other end as Dagenham resorted to playing on the counter attack.

Scott Griffiths almost made his way past the entire Wrexham defence after Gareth Evans needlessly conceded possession and Ben Strevens should have opened the scoring after being played in on the edge of the area but could only force Ward into making a last ditched save.

Stuart Nicholson and Wes Baynes replaced Proctor and Spender respectively as time ran out and the last chance fell to Neil Roberts but he put his free header wide of the target after Matty Done picked him out perfectly in the box.

That was it from Wrexham and Baynes was caught in possession as the last man on his half way line but Llewellyn tracked back to recover the situation, with Wrexham were left to rue missed opportunities as the final whistle sounded.

Match Reaction

Brian Little: "It was a game that we went out to try and win, and it was a game that we should have won. It is a game that we are disappointed that we have not won but there were so many things that were right. Brian Carey has just said to me that it is a long time since a Wrexham side has dominated a game from start to finish like that without wining. Whether it is a little bit too late to be doing that I don't know, but it feels like a defeat because we have not closed in on anybody once again. It just shows today how important it is to win when you are playing Dagenham, Macclesfield and Notts. Today we haven't won but we've had so many chances it was difficult to count them all; I think Drewe had at least six clear headers, some have hit the post, some have hit people's feet or just slightly missed the target and that is just one player. We have had bags of chances. It is not as though we have scrambled away, got one chance and not taken it, we had more that done enough to have won and that is the major disappointment. I just hope that we continue to play like that in our remaining games because that will give us a chance." [Source: Wrexham FC -click here for more]