Thanks again to Rory Sheehan who will be providing match reports and feature articles
Eastbourne 1 Wrexham 0
Alarm bells are starting to ring as Wrexham again slumped to an unacceptable defeat with another limp, insipid performance away to Eastbourne Borough. Now 7 points off the promotion chasing pack, Dean Saunders will have to conjure up something special to lift the side and regain one of the coveted play-off spots.
Following a long spell in the wilderness, Michael Proctor was recalled to start up front with Jefferson Louis. Mike Williams, Jon Brown and Andy Fleming were rested leading to recalls for Aurelien Collin, Sam Aiston and Nathan Fairhurst respectively.
Having battered Eastbourne 5-0 at the Racecourse as recently as December it was surprising that the Dragons didn’t look to really assert their authority from the off. As usual they had plenty of the possession for the majority of the half but it was all to no avail.
The home side had the odd moment but were cautious overall and looked to be there for the taking. The blank scoreline at the half-time interval begged the question whether Wrexham had enough quality firepower to ensure that Eastbourne were taken.
Ominously, things didn’t improve in the second period. Wrexham had the odd set-piece and lots of the ball but didn’t ever look like conjuring a real opportunity, let alone finishing one.
As the game wore on, the home side seemed to sense that they were in with a real chance of taking all three points, and started to abandon some their cautious approach – mainly through Matt Crabb.
Patrick Suffo replaced Jefferson Louis, Jon Brown replaced Proctor and Wes Baynes replaced Ryan Flynn as Saunders served his intention that nothing less than the win would do.
Unfortunately the attacking changes were rendered futile with 5 minutes to go. An Eastbourne corner swung into the 6 yard box was flicked on. Gavin Ward failed to deal with it properly, pushing it off the crossbar into the path of Matt Smart to net the winner.
Despite this hammer blow, there were at least 6 minutes of additional injury time to launch a comeback but the Dragons best chance had fallen to Baynes shortly after the goal. It was a snatched effort which went wide. Had he taken the time to compose himself, Wrexham might have rescued something from the game. Whether they deserved to is debatable.
The hat-trick from Marc Williams and demolition of Eastbourne just prior to Christmas seems a long time ago now. Wrexham are in a rut with recent results being a fair and accurate reflection of the performances.
The recent poor run seems to have sapped the belief out of the players and fans alike. It’s the first real test of Dean Saunders’ managerial mettle. He certainly has the self-belief, charisma and positive attitude to come through it, but it will take more than that to turn it around.
A new striker is a must, preferably before Tuesday night’s home game to Forest Green Rovers…
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