Thanks again to Rory Sheehan who will be providing match reports and feature articles
Wrexham 0 Rushden 3
This was possibly the worst home performance by any team wearing the Wrexham shirt, anywhere, in any era, at any level. And it came on the back of a fresh statement from the club’s owner showing breathtaking contempt for the Supporters Trust. Wrexham FC has plumbed new depths this week, make no mistake.
Rushden & Diamonds like so many other teams in this poor, poor league are average at best. What they had most was organisation and a front pairing capable of snapping up a half chance should they be presented with an opportunity – which they were.
With little under quarter of an hour gone renowned prolific BSP marksman Daryl Clare had all the time in the world to control the ball played to him from a free-kick, turn, and lash home an impressive drive to make it 1-0. Prior to that Wrexham had made a semi-decent start but it was all downhill from here.
Brian Little’s cowardly scapegoating of certain players saw Simon Spender dropped to the bench for this one with Nat Brown appearing at right-back. Neil Taylor gave way to Sam Aiston and Mike Proctor was given a start up front alongside Louis. Proctor and Louis had absolutely nothing to go on all night.
The home crowd soon started to turn. Unable to string simple passes together or show any direction other than long punts upfield it was all too easy for a Rushden side who couldn’t have believed their luck. Mackin tried in midfield, made many mistakes, copped the abuse, and his confidence drained away like so many others out there. Captain Kearney made little impression again, and was just as culpable as Mackin.
Wrexham couldn’t live with the pace and class of Leon Knight and Lee Tomlin, clumsy lunges on those two players earned bookings and free-kicks as the home side looked sluggish in comparison. From one of the free-kicks awarded for a foul on Knight, Chris Hope powered home a header with Wrexham’s defence leaving much to be desired. There was still a third of the half to go.
Louis went close with a header turned round the post just before half-time by goalkeeper Alan Marriott. Rushden seemed sound defensively and Marriott didn’t look like being beaten all night though in truth they were rarely tested.
Into the second-half Rushden eased off. Shaun Whalley showed spirit and constantly made himself a useful outlet. Lacking sharpness following his comeback from injury Nat Brown’s mostly positive contribution gave Wrexham a little dignity.
Christian Smith replaced Mackin, Simon Brown replaced Aiston and Marc Williams replaced Louis. The changes made no difference. Time and time again Rushden’s right-back Curtis Osano was allowed to stroll through the centre of the park should he choose to do so, and the likes of Rob Wolleaston were able to take pot-shots whenever they fancied.
With just over 10 minutes to go Kempson failed to mark Hope from a Burgess free-kick and the big centre-half grabbed his second of the night.
The already sparse crowd of 2,805 started to empty the Racecourse and those that stayed vented their fury with chants of ‘Little Out’ and ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ amongst others. The handful of Rushden fans indulged in a conga-line. The game climaxed with widespread booing and it was fully justified.
Shambolic, dreadful, abysmal, embarrassing, shameful, hopeless, unacceptable, inexcusable… so many words could be used to describe a performance that was lacking in every department on every level.
Taking into account the standard of opposition and level of football we’re playing at, few Racecourse regulars will have ever seen anything as abject as that. It was soul-crushing.
Added to it, the defeat at Grays, and the loss of 4 games out of the last 5, the misery of last season, Brian Little is showing more nerve in refusing to resign as he does on the touchline during the game.
A likely home defeat to Torquay on Saturday and we’ll be joining the battle to escape demotion to the Blue Square North. It’s heartbreaking…
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