15 December 2003

Softly-softly pays off for Smith

NO ONE can say it's been a good few weeks for Wrexham, least of all manager Denis Smith.

Usually one to keep upbeat about the fortunes of his side, he's recently been confronted with poor performances on the pitch and stories of a cash crisis at the Racecourse.

Before the game against Peterborough he even talked about a siege mentality he and his players have developed in answer to what he believed was constant 'sniping.'

Smith singled out Chris Llewellyn for special praise and he optimised a workman-like display built on second-half goals from Brian Carey and sub Hector Sam.

It was their first win in four. Vitally important for a club facing the harsh financial realities of lower league football as it may build on a crowd of 3,033, the lowest league attendance of the season.

"I think a lot of people who take the opportunity to have a snipe will think 'what can we say now," said Smith.

"This victory has put everybody in a better frame of mind.

"Chris was superb and all he needs now is a goal.

"However I don't think what was happening in the first half will ever replace football," he joked. "The second half was more like a football match and we deserved the win."

In truth they deserved nothing from their first-half display. Devoid of Darren Ferguson through suspension it was all bluster and no guile.

While Jim Whitley, Paul Barrett and Steve Thomas never stopped running, they found it difficult to break down a Posh side with the best away record in the division.

Denis Smith

I wasn't complimentary to the lads at half-time but it wasn't a blistering attack

After Lee Jones' sixth-minute strike there was nothing aimed at Mark Tyler's goal. The best chances fell to the away side and it even took 23 minutes for them to register anything of note. Brian Carey's slip allowed Richard Logan to nip in, only for Andy Dibble to block his effort.

The best chance came on the interval when Matthew Gill's free-kick found Logan, but he aimed his header wide of the post.

Wrexham had to get better in the second half. And they did.

"I wasn't complimentary to the lads at half-time but it wasn't a blistering attack," said Smith. "They don't need that at this time. The second half was a lot better."

The softly-softly approach paid dividends.

Six minutes in Jones ran on to Llewellyn's ball and blasted wide. It was a sign of things to come and on 67 minutes they got the breakthrough.

Whitley's pin-point free-kick found the unmarked Carey, who nodded past Tyler. Posh could offer nothing.

"We could have been here for three days and still wouldn't have scored," was the honest assessment of Posh boss Barry Fry.

When Sam entered the fray as a replacement for Jones on 70 minutes, his purposeful running caused problems.

With almost his first touch he collected Carlos Edwards' through ball and chipped the on-rushing Tyler.

He should have made it three late on, but that would have been icing on the cake for an already delighted Smith.

"We defended well, got a clean sheet and won," he said. "I try to be positive at all time. I've got something to be positive about now."