Barnet 3

Ismail Yakubu 45' Anthony Thomas 51' Nicky Nicolau 62'

Wrexham 2

Drewe Broughton 55' Simon Spender 66'

Saturday 29 March 2008

 

Kick Off @ 15:00



Wrexham

Starting XI:
12 Gavin Ward
28 Phil Bolland
24 Steve Evans
06 Richard Hope 69'
02 Simon Spender
29 Sam Aiston 72'
11 Chris Llewellyn
20 Matty Done
33 Paul Hall
39 Drewe Broughton
10 Michael Proctor
Substitutes:
01 Anthony Williams
15 Mike Williams 69'
21 Marc WIlliams
35 Stuart Nicholson
36 Jeff Whitley 72'
Stats:
10 Shots on Goal
6 Shots on Target
4 Shots off Target
50% Possession
13 Fouls Conceded
6 Corners
0 Yellow Cards

0

Red Cards

Barnet

Starting XI:
01 Lee Harrison
19 Sagi Burton
05 Ismail Yakubu
21 Kenny Gillet 90'
02 Joe Devera
03 Nicky Nicolau
04 Neal Bishop
07 Albert Adomah
24 Josh Wright
10 Adam Birchall
08 Anthony Thomas 86'
Substitutes:
06 Michael Leary
11 Jason Puncheon
14 Max Porter 90'
16 Ashley Carew
23 Kieron St Aimie 86'
Stats:
15 Shots on Goal
11 Shots on Target
4 Shots off Target
50% Possession
18 Fouls Conceded
14 Corners
0 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes

Venue: Underhill
Attendance: 2,286
Half Time: Barnet 1 Wrexham 0
Referee: Roger East

Match Incidents

45' Ismail Yakubu (Barnet)
51' Anthony Thomas (Barnet)
55' Drewe Broughton (Wrexham)
62' Nicky Nicolau (Barnet)
66' Simon Spender (Wrexham)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast


Barnet FC: Barnet 'cruise' past Wrexham


BBC: Dragons edge closer to drop


TEAMtalk: Bees buzz past rock-bottom Dragons


Wales on Sunday: Little men buried at Underhill


Wrexham FC: Barnet 3 Wrexham 2 (FT)


Wrexham MAD: Barnet 3 Wrexham 2

League Two Results

Barnet 3 Wrexham 2
Brentford 0 Rochdale 2
Chester v Stockport - Abandoned
Dag & Red 0 Chesterfield 3
Darlington 1 Bradford 3
Macclesfield 2 Accrington 1
Morecambe 5 Rotherham 1
Notts County 0 Mansfield 0
Peterborough 4 Lincoln City 0
Shrewsbury 0 Bury 1

League Two Table

    PLD GD PTS
1 Peterborough 41 40 85
2 MK Dons 39 39 82
3 Hereford 39 24 74
4 Darlington 40 28 73
5 Stockport 39 16 69
6 Wycombe 40 12 67
7 Chesterfield 41 18 63
8 Rochdale 38 14 62
9 Morecambe 40 -1 57
10 Grimsby 40 -1 55
11 Brentford 41 -13 55
12 Bradford 39 3 54
13 Rotherham 41 1 52
14 Bury 41 -4 49
15 Lincoln City 41 -17 49
16 Barnet 38 -9 48
17 Accrington 41 -32 45
18 Shrewsbury 40 -7 44
19 Macclesfield 41 -17 44
20 Chester 40 -15 43
21 Dag & Red 41 -22 42
22 Notts County 40 -14 41
23 Mansfield 39 -19 34
24 Wrexham 38 -24 33

Next Five Games

Tue 01 Apr: Mansfield (a) 19:45

Sat 05 Apr: Macclesfield (h) 15:00

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

Sun 13 Apr: Shrewsbury (a) 12:00

Sat 19 Apr: Notts County (h) 15:00

Match Report

Second half goals from Drewe Broughton and Simon Spender were not enough as Wrexham fell to defeat at Barnet to leave us eight points adrift of safety.

All five goals came in a twenty minute spell either side of half time but the first goal crucially went the way of Barnet on the stroke of half time and Wrexham were always chasing the game after that.

It was another poor goal to concede as the Wrexham defence were static as Ismail Yakubu was left unmarked to head the opener with only seconds of the first half left and this completely changed the direction of the game.

Wrexham were matching their hosts until this point but more poor defending at the start of the second half allowed Barnet to double their advantage through Anthony Thomas and the game looked up for Wrexham.

But a Broughton header within four minutes was the lifeline Wrexham needed but our failure to close down Nicolas Nicolau on the hour mark allowed Barnet to regain their two goal cushion.

Spender again gave Wrexham some hope five minutes later but Wrexham failed to build on our second goal of the afternoon and Barnet had enough chances to put the game beyond any doubt before the end.

With Notts County and Mansfield finishing goalless, Wrexham are one point behind Mansfield but eight adrift of Notts County with the game at Mansfield on Tuesday night now a ‘must win’ for both sides.

Wrexham deployed a 3-4-3 formation from the start with the only change from Easter Monday being the absence of Danny Sonner through injury with Paul Hall taking his place in an attacking line-up.

It was not the best start for Wrexham as Anthony Thomas found a route through to goal in the opening minute and Gavin Ward took two attempts to gather the shot from the lively striker.

Apart from this early scare, the majority of the action was contained to the middle of the pitch with Wrexham’s best chance coming following a flowing move down the right.

It was Paul Hall who played Drewe Broughton in space with a quickly taken free kick and his teasing cross to the far post found Michael Proctor but his shot was blocked as the Barnet defence scampered back.

There was a lot of endeavour from both sides but defences remained firmly on top with both teams missing that bit of quality in the final third to unlock the backlines.

Wrexham looked to have done this just before the half-hour mark when Sam Aiston was fouled when he sent Proctor clean through on goal but referee Roger East was too quick with his whistle and brought the play back for a Wrexham free kick.

This was to the frustration of the Wrexham team and fans, who were left even more frustrated at the end of the first half.

Chris Llewellyn conceded a soft free kick in front of the near 400 travelling support on the sidelines, who then watched in disbelief as Broughton failed to track the run of Yakubu into the area and he was unmarked as he headed Nicolau’s inswinging free kick inside of the near post.

Wrexham barely had time left to restart the game and the away side were again kicking off six minutes into the second half after Barnet doubled their advantage.

It was more poor defending from Wrexham as Matty Done was out jumped on the far side of the area to a Nicolau cross, but there looked to be no danger on as Anthony Thomas controlled the ball with his back to goal.

Richard Hope was marking Thomas but he still managed to flick the ball over his head and there was a sinking feeling on the away terrace as the ball looped over Ward and into the back of the net.

Wrexham were now desperate for a goal and one arrived just five minutes later when Gareth Evans pumped the ball forward from a free kick and Broughton steered his header past Lee Harrison in the Barnet goal.

It was now a complete roller coaster ride for Wrexham fans as, just when you thought we were coming back into the game, more poor defending allowed goal scorer Thomas to run across the edge of the area before laying off to Nicolau to shoot through the legs of Spender and into the net past Ward.

There was still half-an-hour left in the game and a goal midway through the second half again brought Wrexham back into the contest.

It was a superb goal from Wrexham with Simon Spender somehow finding himself on the edge of the D to receive a neat back heel from Hall and the full back despatched the ball inside of the far post, giving Harrison no chance.

Brian Little made two quick substitutions with twenty minutes to go as Mike Williams and Jeff Whitley replaced Richard Hope and Sam Aiston respectively.

But apart from a Done shot that was blocked and a Broughton effort that went wide of the target, the best chances fell to Barnet as gaps appeared in the Wrexham defence as we went in search of the equaliser.

Substitute Kieron St Aimie only came on with four minutes left but during this time struck the woodwork twice.

The first came when he was left unmarked from a corner and with his first touch planted a header that Ward turned onto the bar and over.

St Aimie’s second touch came from the resulting corner that Wrexham again failed to defend, but this time the substitute struck the post with a fierce shot.

Wrexham were struggling to create anything and when a half chance from Broughton went wide, so did Wrexham’s chances of collecting a vital point as the whistle sounded soon after.

Match Reaction

Brian Little: "In most of our games this season, there have been pre-defining moments and today that came 15 seconds before half time. I felt, and I'm also open to criticism, that we were cruising in the first half. We were easily matching them, keeping them out. At 2-0 we knew were gambling, then at 2-1 we go and give another bad goal away. To get back again was hard, but we tried hard, although we also gave them opportunities as we pushed on. Yes, I'm disappointed because I felt we had everything under control up until those last few seconds of the first half. Any manager will tell that to concede then will always change your team talk. Today ours went right out the window, as everybody was down and it was more a case of lifting them. It was a big moment for us and to be honest, I don't think we really recovered from it. I can't criticise the effort and commitment, but once again we are our own worst enemies. I'm disappointed not to have won here today, although I accept that in the second half they had more chances to score when we got a bit ragged." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here for more]