Fireless Dragons Fall to Stockport
An Okonkwo injury looms large over Wrexham, while the rest of the squad failed to deliver on Saturday.
It was an eventful week for The Reds…but far from the happiest.
The Wrecap:
Stockport County 1 - 0 Wrexham
The Wrexham of the last five league outings failed to report for duty on Saturday and the result was a 1-0 loss to Stockport, who pulled within one point of us in third. No matter how you cut it, The Reds simply weren’t playing at their best on Saturday. We took nine shots to Stockport’s nineteen (and only one of ours was on target), committed fourteen fouls to their six, and earned two corners to their eight.
The first half was particularly damning, where Wrexham’s defense was disorganized at best. That criticism does not include keeper Callum Burton, however, who is set to be our main keeper during Okonkwo’s absence (see below). Burton shouldn’t be held responsible for Stockport’s goal as there wasn’t much more he could have done to prevent it. Beyond that goal, Burton was far and away the best player on the pitch for Wrexham, keeping The Dragons in the game with seven saves, a punch, and eight recoveries.
Things picked up for Wrexham in the second half, however, and we drew nearly even on the possession front, but it was too little, too late. Böðvarsson and Palmer were Parkinson’s starting strikers with Mullin bumped to the bench, and neither looked very threatening…when they got the ball, that is. The pair only had 42 touches between them. Mullin and Faal relieved them late in the game but they didn’t add much life to the lineup, in all honesty. The other big note here is that Andy Cannon picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign, so he’ll be barred from our next outing against Exeter City. I’d expect to see Rathbone in the starting XI as a result.
Still, the loss wasn’t without its positives: we remain in third on the table (although we could have jumped to second), Burton proved that Parkinson doesn’t need to run out and get a replacement keeper while we wait for Okonkwo’s return, and Barnett continued his impressive run of appearances. Stockport’s Louis Barry is my unbiased Man of the Match, but the Wrexham fan in me gives it to Burton.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Burton, Cleworth, Scarr (O’Connell 63’), O’Connor, Barnett, Cannon (Rathbone 63’), Dobson (James 85’), Lee, McClean, Böðvarsson (Mullin 63’), Palmer (Faal 73’)
Bench: Howard, Revan, O’Connell, Rathbone, M. James, Mullin, Faal
Goals:
STP: Barry (24’)
Yellow Cards:
WXM: Cannon (45’), Lee (63’), Rathbone (79’)
STP: Southam-Hales (4’), Horsfall (6’), Barry (20’), Olaofe(90+2’)
FAW Cup - CPD Merched Y Felinheli 0 - 10 Wrexham Women
No sense in burying the lede with this one: the Wrexham Women positively dominated CPDM Y Felinheli on Sunday to advance in the FAW Cup. On a wet and muddy pitch, the common thread throughout the match was “Ava Suckley scores” as the forward came through with a hat trick that she spread throughout the game. She scored the first goal, the second goal, and the final goal of Wrexham’s ten. Katie Sharp chipped in with a brace, as did Rosie Hughes, with Cairns, Pritchard, and Lightfoot contributing the other three.
The hosts did very little to offer resistance to The Reds’ flash of power. Let’s hope the squad can carry some of this momentum back into league play, which resumes on Sunday against The New Saints.
As of this writing, there is no full report from Wrexham.
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Morgan, Davies (Fuller 46’), Lovett, Sharp, Cairns (L. Jones 62’), Gibbard, Pritchard, Hughes, Iddenden (Burnham 81’), Lightfoot (C. Jones 72’), Suckley
Bench: Craven, Burnham, Fuller, C. Jones, L. Jones
Goals:
WXM — Suckley (17’, 33’, 89’), Sharp (48’, 76’), Hughes (69’, 88’), Cairns (51’), Pritchard 70’), Lightfoot (71’)
Yellow Cards:
WXM — None
CPD — Edwards (48’), Greenough (85’)
FA Youth Cup: Tranmere Rovers U18s 1 - 3 Wrexham Academy
Wrexham have advanced to the third round of the FA Youth Cup for the first time since 2005 courtesy of a late Hari Roberts brace. Tranmere struck first nineteen minutes in, but Keane Hazeldine evened the scoreline just before halftime. In the second half, Roberts took advantage of a loose ball to give Wrexham the lead…and then doubled it just two minutes later. Regular Wrexham Wreader readers will be no stranger to Hari Roberts’ name: the 16-year-old is having a fantastic season and that surely hasn’t gone unnoticed by Parkinson, who was in attendance for this contest.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Jones, Clayton, Edwards, Purvis, Kelly, McTweed, Moore, Roberts, Hazeldine (Connolly 90+1'), Owen, Nawaz (Almeida 77’).
Bench: Owen, Nicholas, Rees, Connolly, Almeida, Slosarczyk, Chesworth.
Goals:
WXM - Hazeldine (44’), Roberts (57’, 59’)
TRN - Salvatore (19’)
Yellow Cards:
WRX - Clayton (21’)
TRN - Henderson (50’), Edwards (55’), Massey (62’)
Current Tables
League One
Adran Premier
News from the Week:
Okonkwo Breaks Wrist — Out Six Weeks
Arthur Okonkwo sustained an injury to his hand in the Mansfield match but remained in the game. Unfortunately, that injury has been revealed to be a broken wrist and he is now set to miss at least six weeks, according to Parkinson:
Unfortunately, [Okonkwo] has broken his wrist and is going to be out for a minimum of six weeks.
Our supporters may have found it a bit strange that we played both goalkeepers for 45 minutes on Tuesday night – that was pre-planned in terms of giving them both some gametime, but also to protect Callum a little bit as well. I feel for Arthur, he’s in good form, but we’ve got two experienced goalkeepers ready and waiting.
The injury news comes on the heels of dual injuries sustained during the Port Vale match…
Bolton, Boyle Set to Miss the Next Month
Boyle was a late scratch before the Port Vale match, while Bolton went down early in the first half. In the same update, Phil revealed he expects both to be out “4-5 weeks. This doesn’t hurt us as much as Okonkwo, as both are largely reserve players at this point, but it does severely impact our defensive depth and while most of our matches until the new year are against mid-to-bottom-of-the-table teams, we do have Lincoln City next week which could be a tough test only a few days after facing Exeter. Barnsley will likely be our toughest opponent in the next 6-7 weeks; we face them on New Year’s Day.
Phil’s update also provided the latest on our other injured first-teamers: George Evans, James Jones, Steven Fletcher, and Jack Marriott.
Wrexham Launch “Wrexham AFC Foundation”
Wrexham has rebranded its official charity as the Wrexham AFC Foundation, which “strive[s] to change the lives of children and young people across Wrexham, North Wales and beyond, serving as one of three strands of the Club’s community operation.” Rob, Ryan, and Humphrey go into more detail in the announcement video above.
Wrexham Win Inaugural “Twinning Cup”
Speaking of Humphrey, on Monday he played in the first “Twinning Cup” between Kick4Life FC of Lesotho and Wrexham in NYC ahead of tonight’s 10th annual Kick4Life Gala. The charitable project between K4LFC and Wrexham was announced earlier this season.
“The McClean Rule”
Wrexham Captain James McClean has been granted an exception to the EFL rule of players exiting the pitch, and all 72 EFL clubs have been informed of the change. The rule requires players to “leave the field of play via the nearest touchline or goal line,” however the constant abuse McClean has faced throughout his career from the supporters of various clubs across the English pyramid has led to a special exception for him, and sets the precedent for the rule tweak to be extended to other players that suffer similar levels of abuse — specifically having objects thrown at them — in the future.
Thus, the exception (which is already being called “The McClean Rule”) states: “It has now been agreed that on occasions in the future when Mr. McClean has to leave the field of play, for whatever reason, he will leave by the shortest route towards the tunnel.”
The Athletic has a great breakdown of the change and was the source of the above quotes, but in short: the rule simply lets McClean exit the pitch via a direct route to the tunnel, rather than walking around the sidelines from wherever he happens to be on the pitch at the time of his substitution or injury, thus limiting close exposure to abusive fans.
The fact that this exception has been granted in November is hardly a coincidence. November 11th is Remembrance Day in the UK and, similar to the US’ Veteran’s Day held on the same day, it honors veterans of the First World War and beyond. Throughout the month, most clubs and their supporters wear a poppy as a show of support and to honor the country’s casualties of war. As an Irishman, McClean isn’t particularly keen on honoring the British military and thus has refused to wear a poppy his entire career, leading to the widespread scorn British football fans feel for him.
The Week Ahead
11/23 vs Exeter City
US: Paramount+, iFollow. UK: Skysports+
10:00am EST / 3:00pm BST
It’s a two-match week for The Reds, and first on the list is a date with Exeter City on Saturday. It will be the two clubs’ first meeting since 2003. Exeter currently sit in ninth, a win shy of the playoff positions and five points beneath Wrexham. As noted above, Cannon will be suspended for this match and I expect to see Rathbone elevated to the starting XI in his place. While Exeter lead the league in clean sheets with nine (one more than Wrexham), they also lead in Goals Conceded Per Match (0.7). This mixed bag of stats has led to keeper Joe Whitworth being ranked their best player, as well as the second-best player overall in the League. They’ve spread their 14 goals around the squad, with midfielder Kami Doyle ranking as their top scorer with three.
On paper, Wrexham enter as the notably stronger team. But after the lackluster display against Stockport, Phil (and the fans) will be looking for The Reds to prove it.
11/26 vs Lincoln City
US: Paramount+, iFollow. UK: Skysports+
2:45pm EST / 7:45 pm BST
On Tuesday we face sixth-place Lincoln City for the first time since the 2007/2008 League Two campaign. This should be a tight contest: Lincoln are only three places beneath us…and only by two points. They’ve also scored just one less goal than we have. They’ve got a solid defense led by center-back Paudie O'Connor, currently ranked eighth overall in FotMob rating, but they haven’t kept a clean sheet in a league match since their September 28th meeting with Cambridge United, the third-worst squad on the table. Striker Ben House leads their attacking line, having netted four times in the campaign.
I like the Reds’ chances here as well, but The Imps have a strong squad and can easily get the better of Wrexham if we’re not focused and organized at the back. Let’s hope our home advantage can help propel us to all three points.
Women: 11/24 at The New Saints
US: iFollow. UK: Skysports+
9:00am EST / 2:00pm BST
The Wrexham Women face second-place The New Saints on Sunday as they continue to claw their way out of their early season hole. A win against this top team will help rewrite Wrexham’s season story and can also (depending on other results) lift us into the top four for the first time all year.