How much more of this do we have to take? We were promised that Wrexham would perform at home and lose the soft centre at the heart of our side.

Changes were made by manager Brian Carey. Carrots replaced the recently shaky Anthony Williams in goal. Young Gareth Evans and Mike Williams made their first league starts of the season alongside Hope in a back three. Silvio Spann started in midfield. Wales international Steve Evans started on the bench.Nothing changed though.

Both teams started the game feeling each other out. Not many chances were created but as the first-half wore on Barnet had more of the possession. We were getting penned back in our own half and when the midfield did get hold of the ball, it tended to end up back with Barnet fairly soon. Mark Jones and Spann did put a few nice moves together but Proctor and Roberts didn’t pose much threat up front.

Llewellyn also disappointed. Barnet had the better chances, Hatch’s looped attempt over Carrots landed on top of the crossbar. A bizarre free-kick was also given against Carrots for holding onto the ball too long as the referee did not see him drop it and pick it up again!

At half-time Proctor was replaced by natural goalscorer Eifion Williams. Unfortunately Eifion wasn’t given much chance to show his talent for finishing as he received virtually no service in 45 minutes. Early on Spender got forward to put a ball across the Bees’ goal-line but there was no-one rushing in to finish it. Barnet had a goal disallowed soon before the referee wrongly gave them a throw-in against Simon Spender. The defence failed to deal with the resulting move which eventually saw Carew cross for Liam Hatch to slide in and score.

The tension amongst Wrexham fans had been growing all game. Hoping for a fightback, it seemed far off even with the introduction of Marc Williams and Matt Done for Mike Williams and Roberts. Shortly after Carrots made a meal of heading the ball clear, getting caught off his line as the ball hit Spender, setting up Hatch for a tap-in. It was a defensive blunder that could have been avoided with better communication at the back. It summed up the afternoon as fans started to leave early.

To be fair Barnet had some good players, notably the always dangerous Puncheon who gave Spender a hard-time in the tricky right-wing-back role. Barnet seemed bigger and physically stronger than us, out-muscling our lads in most challenges. However as the home team we should have had most of the possession and dictated the way the game was played.

At the end Eifion Williams had a good effort saved by the Barnet goalkeeper. It was probably our best effort of the game but why did we have to wait so late for it?

Predictably the ‘Carey Out’ section of our support is growing, and this performance and defeat is yet more ammunition against our under-pressure manager. Really though, our on-field problems are not down to the man in the dugout alone. The buck stops with him, but the players (particularly the senior Pro’s) have to take more responsibility.

We have good young players at the club that could do with more help from those who are supposed to be experienced. They are currently letting the management and the fans down.

It’s very depressing. We go to Notts County next week with the negative gloom currently engulfing the club’s fans growing with every bad result, which doesn’t help one bit. We can only hope for the best at Meadow Lane…

Macclesfield

After 20 minutes of this game it seemed that we were going to get revenge for the LDV Trophy defeat against Macc last month. That night we were robbed by an incompetent referee. Some Wrexham fans may point to a refereeing decision during this game that cost us yet again.

However this time we should have been able to overcome the setback and secure another away win regardless. There was a sickening twist at the end that’s hard to take considering how we were untroubled defensively for most of the game.

Keeping the same side that started at Accrington, we made a great start when ex-Wrexham YTS Jimmy McNulty fouled Michael Proctor in the area. Proctor stepped up to score the penalty himself with a little over 5 minutes played.

Our lead was doubled after 22 minutes when excellent work down the right from Mark Jones saw him pull the ball back to pick out Llewellyn in the area. Llewellyn placed the ball calmly away to make it 2-0.

We began to sit back for the rest of the half as Macc crept back into it. Their pressure was converted into a goal before half-time as Martin Gritton’s header, set up by Danny Thomas and Levi Reid, brought Macc back into the game. The first-half ended with us 2-1 up.

At half-time Danny Williams (injured) was replaced by Mike Williams. The change didn’t seem to affect us as we held firm against Macc’s attacks. The home side seemed devoid of ideas and Gritton apart, any threat in front of goal. We had chances going forward ourselves as Macc started to lose confidence.

The turning point came when Robbie Garrett got into a tangle with Macc’s goalkeeper Tommy Lee with 10 minutes to go. There was no intent on Garrett’s part initially as Lee had him around the neck. Garrett shoved to break free and continued the shoving afterwards.

Unfortunately Garrett was already on a yellow card, and the ref showed him another, followed by the red. Perhaps we would not have been down to 10 men had the referee seen what had provoked Garrett in the first place.

The sending off is still not an excuse for what happened in injury time. A man down with a lead to protect, we should have been organised enough defensively to let nothing slip no matter what the pressure. A needless foul given away by Mark Jones led to a McIntyre free-kick being headed in by Dave Morley to make it 2-2.

With time still to go, and Wrexham reeling from the shock of that goal, Macclesfield fans and team sensed there could be more in it. The lively Danny Thomas looked to put in a cross from the left which he mis-hit. Unfortunately his mistake led to the ball heading towards goal over Anthony Williams, where it clipped the far post and went in. With a couple of minutes Macc had stolen a win when they would have been lucky to take a draw.

How could this happen? The players have to take a share of the responsibility again. People may point the finger at the controversial sending off but despite the pressure that that invited we should still have held on. Others will be quick to blame Brian Carey but honestly what could he do, with just minutes to go, to prevent us from losing a game we were winning?

The loss of Steve Evans on international duty, and Danny Williams at half-time, meant we were short of defensive leaders at the back. Their presence may have made a difference but we should still not have lost the game.

Two away wins on the bounce and we’d have been fully confident of turning Barnet over at home next Saturday.

Now we are still hovering over the relegation zone with more people now unsure whether it’s worth the bother of going next week, despite a generally decent away performance.

It’s a cruel game.

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