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This draw felt like a defeat with other results going against us, leaving us seven points from safety. Worse still we outplayed an average Dagenham side for 90 minutes, and created numerous chances only to spurn them all.

With Mike Williams on Wales Under-21 duty Matt Done came into the side as we switched to 3-5-2. Neil Roberts made way for Richard Hope. For the second consecutive match we experienced mixed weather conditions; snow and rain early on and sunshine later in the game.

From the kick-off we put the Daggers under intense pressure winning an early corner. From the set-piece Drewe Broughton had a header cleared off the line. We continued to press forward and have attempts on goal, possibly more in this spell than we’d created altogether in recent weeks.

Dagenham looked even shakier than ourselves in defence and were indebted to self-confessed Wrexham fan Tony Roberts in their goal for keeping us out. The away side inevitably crept into the game but offered less of a threat up front than we did up. They were there for the taking.

Edging closer to half-time there was more penalty area action with Chris Llewellyn twice foiled in his attempts on goal, and Broughton’s follow-up also blocked. You sensed it was going to be ‘one of those days’.

Danny Sonner was replaced by Neil Roberts at half-time, and we picked up where we’d left off in the first period. Just minutes in Aiston managed to get a shot away which was cleared before the on-rushing Broughton could get to it.

Five minutes later came a missed opportunity that typified the afternoon. Done put in a superb cross for Broughton who saw his header kept out brilliantly by the legs of Tony Roberts. The rebound fell to Proctor who somehow found the post rather than back of the net from close-range.

Encouraged we kept up the momentum and made more attempts to beat Roberts as the Daggers were penned back. Time was against us and with every chance wasted the heart sank. With 20 minutes to go Chris Llewellyn put in good cross which was headed against the post by Broughton, and Roberts was tested again from a Spender free-kick.

Stuart Nicholson replaced Proctor with quarter of an hour to go and almost immediately saw a header go over the bar. Dagenham pushed forward every now and then as they looked to expose our defensive frailties. A well-composed Phil Bolland won the ball with a terrific challenge to stop the run of Glen Southam while the rest of our defence were in a panic.

A minute or so later Gavin Ward was forced into a brilliant save from Ben Strevens, and then another one, before the officials finally realised he was well offside. The officiating during this game was abysmal, something else which went against us for the majority of it.

With minutes to go Wes Baynes replaced Simon Spender and Neil Roberts put a header frustratingly wide from another Done cross less than 10 yards out. Despite our domination it wasn’t to be our day and we drew a blank.

The situation looks desperate and many Wrexham fans are already resigning themselves to relegation. We still have plenty of games to play however, and opportunities to take points off those around us.

Last season we stayed up against the odds with a great mini-run, winning fixtures during the run-in that no-one expected us to. We got fully behind the team, and the players really believed they could do it. Something similar needs to happen again this season, starting at Barnet on Saturday.

We have to take our chances though…

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Two goals from Ricky Shakes condemned a lacklustre Wrexham side to a disappointing defeat. Once again when we drop points the other relegation haunted teams around us pick up points. Most concerning though was the poor performance from a Wrexham side seemingly lacking in enthusiasm for the fight.

We travelled to Brentford with high hopes after the Bury game, bolstered by the return of Neil Roberts, Danny Sonner and Jeff Whitley to the squad. The first two returned to midfield, with Jeff occupying a spot on the bench.

The unusual weather conditions didn’t help the game, with a mix of snow, hail, rain and strong winds making an impression throughout. However it was the same for both sides and Brentford adapted the better to the elements than we did.

The first half was dismal with both side’s struggling to muster anything close to an opportunity early on. The Bees were forced into an early substitution because of an injury and then there was a chance. Unfortunately it fell to the home side.

Alan Connell fired a shot at Gavin Ward which was saved but Wrexham’s defence were too slow to react to the danger. Shakes was on hand to head home and put Brentford in front. Up until then the game had 0-0 written all over it.

Ironically our chances of equalising in the first half came via our defenders. A Simon Spender free-kick caused chaos in the Brentford box as it bounced over Proctor and against the bar. The Bees goalkeeper Simon Brown struggled with his attempts to punch the ball clear until eventually the danger passed.

The next chance fell to Phil Bolland who went close with a header from free-kick which just went over the bar. That came just before half-time and with the likes of Llewellyn and Aiston failing to create anything out wide, there were hopes that Brian Little might change things during the interval.

We started the second period more positively with Spender getting forward to put in dangerous crosses and Broughton making his presence felt. At the other end Brentford’s Nathan Elder caused a few scares.

With just over 20 minutes to go Little made a double substitution taking off the central midfield pairing of Roberts and Sonner. They were replaced by Paul Hall and Matty Done. A few minutes later Done put in a good cross, which was dropped by Brown, but the goalkeeper recovered in time to keep out Proctor’s shot.

We were made to pay for that missed chance when minutes later when build-up play from a long throw found Shakes. Despite not having scored for six months prior to this game, he lashed home on the far side past Ward to double his tally for the afternoon.

With the game over we were left to ponder what might have been had we approached the game in a different manner. We now face a crucial Easter Monday game at home to Dagenham & Redbridge. Brian Little has some difficult decisions to make regarding team selection and the way we approach that game.

Hard to ignore is the fact that we are again adrift at the bottom with games starting to run out, despite those tough away fixtures we have in hand. Monday is another clichéd ‘must-win’ fixture.    

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