Cannon Blasts Wrexham to Trophy Semi-Final
Andy Cannon was the hero last night as the Trophy chase gets serious, but another Wrexham player has been involved in a car accident.
Wrexham had a pair of dramatic wins this week, but fans are currently waiting for updates on Elliot Lee, who was taken to the hospital last night.
The Wrecap:
Vertu Trophy Quarterfinal:
Wrexham 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers
With the League title likely out of reach, the Vertu Trophy remains The Reds’ best chance for silverware this Spring. As such, and with a tough opponent in Bolton Wanderers, Phil injected the lineup with a healthy dose of first-teamers: most of the regular backline, plus Lee, Longman, and Marriott joining Revan, Cannon, Evans, and Faal. At first, it looked like it could be a long match as Bolton positively dominated the first fifteen minutes. But for the next fifteen the script completely flipped, with Wrexham controlling the ball and creating decent chances. The rest of the first half then turned into a back-and-forth battle as both teams pushed hard for an opener.
That push continued into the second half, with both sides dealing well with the pressure from the other side. Both keepers deserve a lot of praise, but Okonkwo looked like he wanted to prove to Phil he was ready for first-team matches again. He had a few flubs, but for the most part, it was impressive save after impressive save. With no goals to separate the sides after an hour, Phil made an extremely rare quadruple substitution, bringing Smith and Rodriguez on for their home debuts along with Rathbone and Barnett. All the subs made a big impact on the game, but in the end it was a starter that made the difference. At 68’ Andy Cannon, with Rodriguez wide open in the box, fired a majestic curling shot from outside The D that found the far corner to put the Reds in the lead. Keeper Nathan Baxter was anticipating a pass to Rodriguez and simply couldn’t cover the ground to stop Cannon’s shot.
But the rest of the match was hardly a cakewalk. Bolton played hard and nearly had an equalizer toward the end of the game when the ball hit off the far post…an inch to the left and it would have been in. Ultimately, the Reds held on and will now face Peterborough in the Trophy Semi-Final in two weeks. With a trip to Wembley on the line, expect both sides to field their first teams. As for today’s match, Cannon is my pick as MotM. Not only did he score the winner, but he was electric all match long.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Okonkwo, Brunt, Scarr, O’Connor, Longman (Barnett 63’), Evans, Cannon (Cleworth 86’), Lee (Rathbone 63’), Revan, Marriott (Smith 63’) Faal (Rodriguez 63’)
Bench: McNicholas, Mendy, Cleworth, Barnett, Rathbone, Smith, Rodriguez
Goals:
WRX — Cannon (70’)
BOL — None
Yellow Cards:
WRX — Cannon (42’)
BOL — Sheehan (30’), Cogley (68’)
Women: Wrexham 1 - 0 The New Saints
It was a special night for the Wrexham Women last Wednesday. They needed to do better than Swansea City in order to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish by match 14…but when the match stretched well into the second half and no goal had been registered, things looked bleak. Swansea found themselves in a similar situation against league leaders Cardiff City until Cardiff took the lead shortly after halftime. It was a lively match but Cardiff held on, leaving Swansea pointless and Wrexham with a chance.
As the minutes dwindled away, it looked like a goalless draw may sink Wrexham’s chances of reaching the top four. But then, finally, the breakthrough came off the boot of fan-favorite Lili Jones with an impressive goal in the 87th minute. Five minutes of stoppage time were added on and TNS threatened, but the Reds were able to hold on and take their campaign all the way to match 14.
Naturally, they will be facing Swansea City. That will be on February 23rd, but first the two clubs will meet in the FAW Cup quarterfinal this Sunday. Both will be big matches, but squad rotation is still likely in the cup match. The league match will be one to watch, however, with Wrexham now just a win away from securing a second consecutive top-half finish in Wales’ top tier.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Craven, Allen, Sharp, Clark, Pritchard (Lightfoot 65’), L. Jones, Cairns (Hughes 80’), C.Jones, Fuller, Iddenden, Suckley.
Bench: Burnham, Lovett, Gibbard, Lightfoot, Hughes
Goals:
WRX — Jones 87’
TNS — None
Yellow Cards:
WRX — Allen (70’)
TNS — None
U18s: Wrexham 4 - 0 Carlisle United
The Wrexham U18s have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Football Youth Alliance Cup after a 4-0 thrashing of Carlisle. Oliver McTweed opened the scoring after just eight minutes (his first for the academy side) and Keane Hazeldine extended the lead after half an hour. In the second half, goals from Rio Owen and Sammy Chesworth put the game well out of reach.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Bryn Owen (Connolly 84’), Tommy Clayton, Tom Kelly, Alex Moore, Dafydd Edwards (Nicholas 75’), Max Purvis, Daymeon Alves Almeida (Roberts 84’), Oliver McTweed, Rio Owen, Sammy Chesworth, Keane Hazeldine (May-Hawkins 75’)
Bench: Regan Nicholas, Elliott Jones, Hari Roberts, Anton Connolly, Louie May-Hawkins
Goals:
WRX — McTweed (8’), Hazeldine (31’), Owen (51’), Chesworth (76’)
CAR — None
Yellow Cards:
WRX — Owne (81’)
CAR — None
Current Tables
League One
Adran Premier
News from the Week:
Breaking: Lee in Car Accident
In a statement this morning, Wrexham announced that Elliot Lee was involved in a two-car accident after last night’s Vertu Trophy Quarterfinal. Both drivers were taken to the hospital with the club stating: “The player suffered no major injuries, while the driver of the other vehicle is being treated for their injuries.” The incident comes only a few weeks after James McClean’s accident.
There are no further details at this time, but I’d recommend keeping up with Wrexham on Bluesky for the latest. In the meantime, let’s hope our top scorer and the other driver are alright.
Vertu Trophy Semi-Final Date Set
The match that will decide if Wrexham’s season includes a trip to Wembley Stadium will be held at the Racecourse on Wednesday, 2/26. Wrexham have beaten 20th-place Peterborough in both our league matches this season, but I’d expect Phil to pull out most of the stops at this stage of the competition.
The Week Ahead
Women: 2/16 - FAW Cup Quarterfinal vs Swansea
US: iFollow. UK: Skysports+
9am EST / 3:00pm BST
The Wrexham Women have the chance to preview their all-important 14th league match versus Swansea City in the FAW Cup Quarterfinal this weekend. Swansea have done very well in the tournament thus far, beating Talycopa by a staggering 11-0 in the first round and Carmarthen Town 3-0 in the second round. They’ve also done well against Wrexham this season, beating us 3-2 in the league and in the Adran Trophy.
Two wins against this club could be a tall order at this point in the season, but it’s our next bout that really counts. I wouldn’t be shocked if manager Steve Dale employed some heavy squad rotation this week in preparation for the league match.
2/15 at Northampton Town
US: Paramount+, iFollow. UK: Skysports+
7:30am EST / 12:30pm BST
Wrexham dispatched Northampton 4-1 back in October and since then their squad hasn’t exactly bounced back. They sit in 17th, six points clear of the relegation zone. Their top-ranked player is center-back John Guthrie…who is 147th in the league by FotMob rating. Still, attacking midfielder Cameron McGeehan has eight goals and the squad itself actually leads the league in Chances Created Per Match, so they’re not without some danger, particularly on their home turf where they’ve scored fourteen of their twenty-nine goals and have a record of 5-3-5 this season. They have won their last two games in a row, but that comes on the heels of a rough period in which they only claimed two victories in seventeen matches.
But Wrexham have won their last three in a row and have scored ten times in their last five matches. Powered by a new striking duo in Smith and Rodriguez, I have high hopes for a quality display on Saturday.