Wrexham |
Starting XI: |
12 |
Gavin Ward |
02 |
Simon Spender |
28 |
Phil Bolland
64' |
05 |
Steve Evans |
06 |
Richard Hope |
36 |
Carl Tremarco |
09 |
Neil Roberts
|
34 |
Danny Sonner |
11 |
Chris Llewellyn |
35 |
Stuart Nicholson
64' |
39 |
Drewe Broughton |
Substitutes: |
01 |
Anthony Williams (GK) |
04 |
Shaun Pejic |
10 |
Michael Proctor
64' |
37 |
Jeff Whitley
64' |
38 |
Robert Duffy |
Stats: |
12 |
Shots on Goal |
4 |
Shots on Target |
8 |
Shots off Target |
% |
Possession |
10 |
Fouls Conceded |
3 |
Corners |
1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
Red Cards |
|
Bradford City |
Starting XI: |
01 |
Donovan Ricketts |
02 |
Darren Williams
46' |
05 |
David Wetherall |
12 |
Matthew Clarke |
03 |
Paul Heckingbottom |
15 |
Joe Colbeck |
08 |
Eddie Johnson
66' |
32 |
Lee Bullock |
22 |
Kyle Nix |
07 |
Omar Daley
|
09 |
Barry Conlon |
Substitutes: |
04 |
Paul Evans
66' |
16 |
Simon Ainge |
23 |
Willy Topp |
30 |
Ben Saynor (GK) |
33 |
Ben Starosta
46' |
Stats: |
5 |
Shots on Goal |
3 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
Shots off Target |
% |
Possession |
11 |
Fouls Conceded |
7 |
Corners |
1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
Red Cards |
|
Match Notes |
Venue: |
Racecourse Ground |
Attendance: |
4,341 |
Half Time: |
Wrexham 1 Bradford 0 |
Referee: |
Keith Woolmer |
|
Match Incidents |
37' |
|
Neil Roberts (Wrexham) |
49' |
|
Kyle Nix (Bradford) |
54' |
|
Omar Daley (Bradford) |
54' |
|
Neil Roberts (Wrexham) |
|
Match Reports |
WSA: Final Whistle
Podcast
BBC:
Wrexham 1-1 Bradford
Bradford City FC: Wrexham 1 Bradford City 1
TEAMtalk: Dragons remain bottom after draw
Wales
on Sunday: Wrexham stay bottom after draw
Wrexham FC: Wrexham 1 Bradford City 1
Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 1 Bradford City 1 |
League Two Results |
Chester 0
Rotherham 1
Darlington 2 Macclesfield 2
Grimsby 1 Shrewsbury 1
Lincoln City 2 Dag & Red 0
Milton Keynes Dons 0 Rochdale 1
Morecambe 1 Notts County 1
Wrexham 1 Bradford 1
Wycombe 1 Chesterfield 1 |
League Two Table |
1 |
MK Dons |
28 |
25 |
57 |
2 |
Rotherham |
27 |
18 |
53 |
3 |
Darlington |
26 |
28 |
50 |
4 |
Hereford |
26 |
15 |
49 |
5 |
Wycombe |
28 |
8 |
47 |
6 |
Peterborough |
26 |
19 |
46 |
7 |
Chesterfield |
28 |
16 |
46 |
8 |
Rochdale |
25 |
7 |
44 |
9 |
Morecambe |
28 |
1 |
43 |
10 |
Stockport |
26 |
3 |
39 |
11 |
Shrewsbury |
28 |
2 |
38 |
12 |
Chester |
27 |
0 |
36 |
13 |
Grimsby |
28 |
-7 |
35 |
14 |
Brentford |
26 |
-9 |
35 |
15 |
Accrington |
27 |
-17 |
33 |
16 |
Bradford |
26 |
-1 |
32 |
17 |
Barnet |
24 |
-5 |
32 |
18 |
Notts County |
27 |
-12 |
27 |
19 |
Macclesfield |
27 |
-13 |
27 |
20 |
Bury |
25 |
-7 |
25 |
21 |
Lincoln City |
27 |
-15 |
25 |
22 |
Dag & Red |
27 |
-22 |
22 |
23 |
Mansfield |
25 |
-11 |
19 |
24 |
Wrexham |
26 |
-23 |
19 |
|
Next Five Games |
Tue 29 Jan: Morecambe (a) 19:45
Sat 02 Feb: Darlington (h) 14:30
Sat 09 Feb: Peterborough (a) 15:00
Tue 12 Feb: Bradford (h) 19:45
Sat 16 Feb: MK
Dons (a) 15:00 |
|
Match Report |
Wrexham picked up a well earned
point in our bid for survival with Neil Roberts’ first half strike
cancelled out by Bradford in the second half.
It was another improved performance from Brian Little’s new look Wrexham
side and enough chances were created to grab the second goal but a point
a piece was probably a fair result.
Wrexham were just edging into the game when Neil Roberts broke from
midfield to grab his second goal in as many games when his shot looped
in off the keeper.
The goal came seven minutes before half time but Wrexham could only hold
on for four minutes after the restart when Nix’s shot took a wicked
deflection to deceive Gavin Ward.
Bradford had the better of the game after their equaliser until Wrexham
switched to 4-3-3 and this was when our best chances came but Ward had
to pull off a smart save to deny Omar Daley who was still lucky to be on
the pitch following a reckless challenge in the second half.
There was just one change to the starting line up with Drewe Broughton
making his Wrexham debut up front and he took the place of Paul Hall who
was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Broughton give us a new dimension in attack with the noticeable
difference being that we retained possession of the ball up front
which meant there was less pressure on our three man defence.
Carl Tremarco was again outstanding in the left wing back position and
there was no surprise when he was named man of the match but Steve Evans
made a telling contribution by having the better of Barry Conlon, Bradford’s
big striker.
This meant it was a relatively quiet afternoon for Gavin Ward in the
Wrexham goal, although he did have a nervous start when he dropped a
routine catch but managed to gather the ball before the Bradford striker
could pounce.
This was the only goal mouth action of note in a quiet opening quarter
to the game with Bradford packing out the midfield with only Conlon up
front.
The first chance of the game came when Chris Llewellyn supplied a superb
cross field pass for Neil Roberts to collect down the right and his
cross was turned onto the bar by Broughton who was close to marking his
debut with a goal.
Bradford should have grabbed the first goal of the game with half an
hour gone when Wrexham failed to clear a corner and Conlon had a free
header from eight yards out when the ball came back in but he could only
glance the ball straight at Ward.
Wrexham continued to expose Bradford down their left and this time
Nicholson got the better of Heckingbottom but his low cross just evaded
Broughton at the near post.
Wrexham had a few nervous moments when indecision between Evans and Ward
forced the defender to put behind for a corner and Daley used his space
to skip past Spender but his final ball or shot let him down.
The opening goal came soon after with a defence splitting pass from
Danny Sonner perfect for Neil Roberts but Ricketts looked as if he saved
the well struck shot but the ball looped up and into the net with
Nicholson and Broughton making sure the Bradford defender could not get
back to clear.
Neil Roberts was forced to clear from his own line at the end of the half
but Wrexham could not keep Bradford out following the restart with the
visitors drawing level with four minutes of the second half gone.
It was a lucky goal from Nix as his shot from twenty yards took a wicked
deflection off the boot of a Wrexham player as he looked to block the
ball but this left Ward wrong footed as the ball drifted into the far
side of the goal.
Minutes later and a bad challenge from Daley raised temperatures on the pitch when he
lunged into Bolland. Neil Roberts completely lost it and all players
came charging in with the end result being that Daley and Roberts ending
up in the book.
Bradford did have the better of the game following their goal without
ever troubling Ward and this forced Brian Little to make a double
substitution with twenty five minutes left.
Jeff Whitley and Michael Proctor replaced Phil Bolland and Stuart
Nicholson as Wrexham switched to 4-3-3 with Chris Llewellyn moving up
front to be the third striker.
This move changed the direction of the game with Wrexham now looking
dangerous and the team now most likely to go on to score the second
goal.
Whitley had an immediate impact with his purposeful direct style of play
almost ending up with a goal when his long range shot went narrowly over
with Ricketts well beaten in the Bradford goal.
Steve Evans had two headers from successive corners but the second of
these was put wide when he looked odds on to score and another chance
went begging when Neil Roberts tried to beat one man too many instead of
shooting from the edge of the area.
Ricketts almost gifted us the second goal when he took too long to deal
with a back pass and Llewellyn dispossessed him but his failure to get
the ball away allowed the Bradford defenders to crowd him out and save
the blushes of their keeper.
There were also chances for Proctor at the death when he was clean
through but his lack of pace was hopelessly exposed as the Bradford
defender got back with a well timed challenge.
Bradford did have once chance at the death when Daley got past Spender
and Ward pulled off a good save to turn his low shot around the post.
Bradford forced two corners late on in injury time but there were no
scares for Wrexham and the draw was probably a fair result. |
Match Reaction |
Brian Little: "I think that at 1-0 up we had a
system that was frustrating them. We were giving them quite a bit of
possession in the full-back areas but they weren't really hurting us.
Once they scored, and it was a poor goal, I don't think it was a mistake
more a deflection which we couldn't really do much about. Once they
scored they have then got the impetus to perhaps go on and win so it was
important for us to change and to test them which might have won the
game for us. I think it nearly worked for us. We have quite a bit of
variation now, with a couple of big fellows in the team as forwards
today so the temptation could have been to throw Rob on but big Drewe
was doing quite well for us and we just thought that we might as well
keep it pretty much the same until the end. I was pleased with so much
about the game and I think that we were closer to winning it than
perhaps losing it but at 1-0 we maybe could have got a second. At 1-1 we
had a couple of decent half chances but then you get nervous and at the
end Gavin has to pull off one really good save. They then get a couple
of corners and a week or two ago one of them might have ended up in the
back of the net." [Source:
Wrexham FC - click here for more] |
|