____________________________

Following the postponements of the MK Dons and Hereford away games, it had been two weeks since our last fixture. It showed during this game as the lads looked rusty, unable to up the tempo against a Grimsby side that seemed to settle for the result from the opening.

There were two changes to the Wrexham line-up. Jeff Whitley made his first start in midfield since re-joining the club last month, in place of the injured Neil Roberts. Carl Tremarco returned from injury in place of Neil Taylor.

It’s difficult to recall now but we made a bright start, putting the Mariners under pressure from the kick-off without really going close. The sand covered pitch made it difficult for both sides to control the game with the ball up in the air for long periods.

Neither side had a shot on target for the most of the game and neither goalkeeper had a true save to make. Our defence once again looked solid, but in the absence of Roberts our midfield lacked an attacking thrust, and someone to get forward into the penalty area.

Up front the Broughton and Nicholson partnership worked hard without ever threatening to score a goal. Broughton spent a lot of his time with his back to goal and Nicholson’s pace led him down blind alleys. Had the midfield created anything there wasn’t much of an outlet up there anyway. Even Sonner was a little below his usual excellent high standards.

In an attempt to try something different in the second-half Little put on three attacking players in the space of a few minutes. Aiston replaced Whitley, Proctor replaced Broughton and Rob Duffy replaced Nicholson.

The new strike partnership struggled to change the game though the best chance of the match fell to Proctor with just a couple of minutes to go. The ball came through to him unmarked leaving him space to shoot but his attempt narrowly went over the bar.

Had Proctor scored it would have been cruel on a mid-table Grimsby side that proved difficult to breakdown. A point was a fair outcome for both sides though arguably we need to start converting stalemates like this one into victories.

It’s unfortunate that we’ve gone six games unbeaten, a run which has seen us beat the division’s two top teams, but yet still we find ourselves rooted to the bottom of the table. Clubs around us in the survival fight have gathered up points and surprise wins in recent weeks, which has left us playing catch-up again.

The postponements haven’t helped our momentum and could punish us later in the season with a backlog of fixtures to be played in a short and crucial period of time.

Next up we’ve got two important home games, one in mid-week against promotion-chasing Peterborough, and one at the weekend against fellow strugglers Mansfield. The Mansfield clash is a definite ‘must win’ fixture, whereas most Wrexham fans would settle for avoiding defeat against Peterborough.

The Peterborough game has been given added spice however, by the behaviour and comments from ex-Wrexham favourite Darren Ferguson during and after the game.

All Wrexham fans and probably all Wrexham players will be keen to put one over on Fergie and his expensively assembled team. This should give the atmosphere a boost and lift the players to a level of inspiration they so sorely lacked in this game.

We’ve beaten top teams MK Dons and Darlington at home in the last month, and you can’t bet against Peterborough being next, unless we play as we did against Grimsby…

__________________________

There are a number of Wrexham fans, who to this day, still rue the decision taken by the club’s owners not to appoint Darren Ferguson as successor to Denis Smith as Wrexham manager.

This game, and Ferguson’s familiar show of petulance in his outburst following it, has served to vindicate that it in the long-term our owners made the right call, whatever the reasons behind it.

Wrexham travelled to Peterborough and extended their unbeaten run to five games with a well organised and fully committed performance. It made a sharp contrast to our last outing at London Road, the shambles of our FA Cup hammering there last November.

Brian Little kept faith with the same team that defeated Darlington a week earlier. The Posh included Wrexham old boy Craig Morgan in their starting line-up, fresh from his fine international performance for Wales against Norway at the Racecourse in mid-week.

It was no surprise that Posh attacked us from the off with their expensively assembled side packed with dangerous attackers. Our defence held up well against the likes of McLean, Mackail-Smith and Boyd, as well as the threat of defenders Morgan and Westwood at set-pieces.

It was far from one-sided however. Bolland went close with a header just over from a Taylor cross. Llewellyn had a shot at Lewis and a Danny Sonner free-kick forced Posh’s Charlie Lee to head against his own post. The ball fell to Neil Roberts but Posh had plenty of players back to block his attempt.

The game was just as close in the second-half. Though we didn’t offer a great deal up front, the Posh didn’t seem to know how to break us down either. As they began to dominate, Little replaced Nicholson with Proctor.

The game flared up when a Spender cross towards Broughton in the box saw Posh’s goalkeeper Joe Lewis collided badly with his own defender Gnapka. Morgan put the ball out for a corner with Lewis requiring lengthy attention from the physio. He still looked shaken as the corner was taken and Steve Evans went to challenge him, leaving Lewis floored again requiring more treatment.

This incident sparked a mass brawl with nearly every player from both sides involved, and Ferguson on the touchline incensed, perhaps believing that Wrexham shouldn’t have had the audacity to test the bravery of his precious £500,000 goalkeeper. Eventually Lewis went off on a stretcher and it is to be hoped his injury isn’t serious. He was replaced by young rookie James McKeown. Evans received a yellow card with the home fans calling for a red.

The home crowd were riled and really got behind their side as they pressed us for a winner, though we did have the odd chance from a set-piece. Jeff Whitley and Rob Duffy were sent on as we wound down the lengthy stoppage time added for Lewis’s injury.

The end came and with it, another precious point, well-earned and well-deserved. We certainly matched promotion chasing Peterborough which was perhaps the real cause of Ferguson’s frustrated whining in the post-match interview. He curiously neglected to mention Gnapka’s elbow on Broughton in the first half that only received a yellow card.

For a long time now we’ve craved a Wrexham side that has the character and physical strength required to compete in the majority of games. This game showed that we now have that, and a talented, experienced manager who can still tactically outwit the young pretenders in this division.

Despite the positive display and result we find ourselves bottom of the table as other results went against us. On the evidence of the last month however, we are far from the worst side in this division and shouldn’t be in a, perhaps, false position for long.

Before the now heavily anticipated home leg against Peterborough at the Racecourse which could potentially be explosive, we travel to MK Dons. They are led by another ambitious young manager who used to play for Man.Utd, and who threw a bitter strop last month because Wrexham had the cheek to show resilience in defeating his expensive, much-lauded team…

_______________________________________________________
 

Supporting Wrexham Afc