Thanks again to Rory Sheehan who will be providing match reports and feature articles
Wrexham 3 Grays Athletic 2
Wrexham earned an important 3 points in this Valentine’s Day clash with struggling Grays as the Dragons continued to consolidate their play-off position. Dean Saunders named an unchanged side as Wrexham began brightly.
Very little happened in the opening minutes, but Wrexham soon got into the groove. Neil Taylor and Ryan Flynn combined to set-up Nathan Fairhurst at the edge of the area to curl a low shot past Grays ‘keeper Arnold. Wrexham had the lead after just 6 minutes.
The majority of Wrexham fans probably expected the Dragons to dominate from then on but frustratingly it was Grays who had the lion’s share of decent possession. The away side seemed more at home on the bobbly, cut-up pitch which hampered Wrexham in their attempts to play a passing game.
There was a lengthy stoppage after Gavin Ward spilled the ball from a set-piece and received a boot to the face in trying to retrieve it. However, apart from the lively Ishmael Welsh and Jamie Slabber the away side didn’t seem to have too much going forward.
On the half-hour mark though, Grays levelled. A cross from George Beavan was poorly punched by Ward into the path of Barry Cogan who made no mistake in blasting home the equaliser. Minutes later Ward had to be on top of his game to deny Slabber who’d been played through one-on-one.
Marc Williams headed a Jon Brown cross just wide before half-time but the Racecourse faithful were restless. They’d seen their side slightly outfought by a relegation battling Grays who had frustratingly pegged them back.
Five minutes into the second-half, out of nowhere, Fairhurst produced a long-range effort that had Arnold beaten and looked for a moment as if it might go in, only for it to crash against the bar. Wrexham continued to step up their performance and were rewarded with two goals in as many minutes shortly after.
A poor free-kick given away by Grays on the edge of the area was whipped into the top corner by Jon Brown to regain the lead, then with Grays still stunned, a quick incisive Wrexham break saw Marc Williams cross perfectly for Flynn to head into the roof of the net from close-range. All of a sudden Wrexham appeared to be out of sight.
Encouragingly Wrexham did assert their dominance from then on, keeping possession and creating chances. Of the two new signings on the bench, only the diminutive Jamie McCluskey was called on to make his Dragons debut with 20 minutes to go. Playing out wide, with quick feet, bags of skill and trickery, he looks a terrific prospect if he could be played into the game more.
Wes Baynes and Patrick Suffo also came off the bench but there was a disappointing finale to the game which will have annoyed Saunders and given cause for concern defensively.
Wrexham switched off deep into stoppage time and allowed a Cogan cross to be slotted home by Andy Pugh to narrow the defeat to 3-2. Though ultimately it wasn’t costly, it was unnecessary and such lapses might be punished more against the better sides in the division.
It’s something to keep in mind as the Dragons make their toughest away trip of the season on Tuesday night: away at runaway BSP leaders Burton Albion.
Categories :
Archives