Wrexham's Rough Week
Both squads slog through a tough week of fixtures.
One point from six, two big injuries, but hey…the women finally scored!
The Wrecap:
Leyton Orient 0 - 0 Wrexham
Wrexham left Leyton Orient with a point but without a goal as Okonkwo earned his fifth clean sheet of the campaign in a goalless draw this past weekend. Orient threatened from the start and (once again) held the majority of possession over the visitors, especially in the first half. Wrexham lacked many strong chances, registering only two shots during the first forty-five minutes. In fact, the best chance of the half was O’Connor’s corner delivery at the stroke of halftime, which swung in and clipped the near post, narrowly dashing the hope of going into the break with the lead.
Wrexham saw more of the ball and handled it better in the second half. Marriott created a few chances, but was ultimately replaced by Mullin at 65’. Mullin was, I’m sorry to say, mostly ineffectual once more in this appearance - hardly helping his case to be back in the starting XI game in, game out. But credit should be paid to the hosts for preventing anything too threatening in their goalmouth, with Wrexham’s defense matching them. But The Dragons took a hit at the very end of the game when Max Cleworth went down with an injury, eventually needing to be helped off the pitch. Parkinson would later say the injury was to his “ankle ligaments” but the full extend of the injury isn’t know yet.
It was another quality showing from Okonkwo, who gets my nod as Man of the Match, but not the strongest outing from the majority of the squad as the draw dropped Wrexham down to second on the table.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Okonkwo, Cleworth (Scarr 87’), O’Connell, O’Connor, Barnett, Cannon (Evans 56'‘), Dobson, Lee, McClean, Marriott (Mullin 65’), Palmer (Fletcher 65’)
Bench: Burton, Revan, Mendy, Scarr, Evans, Mullin, Fletcher
Yellow Cards:
WRX - O’Connell(19’), Donson (28’), Cannon (45’)
LEY - Beckles (51’)
Stevenage 1 - 0 Wrexham
Once again, Wrexham found themselves being outplayed in the first half and the problems came early. While the Reds controlled the ball in the opening few minutes, and Marriott managed to hit the post with an early attempt, Stevemage opened up the Wrexham defense rather easily at 10’ and Louis Thompson fired a beauty of a shot just past the hand of an outstretched Okonkwo. The hosts held the majority of possession after that, with Wrexham only managing a few (rather weak) attempts throughout the half. Then at 41’ a three-man collision saw Fletcher and Evans go down, with Evans looking particularly pained. The duo continued after a few minutes, but it wasn’t long before Evans went down again looking quite discomforted, forcing Cannon to replace him just before the halftime whistle.
Things improved quite a bit in the second half, enough that Wrexham actually ended the game with the majority of possession…but they didn’t do much with it. The Reds simply weren’t creative enough and the chances that did come their way they weren’t converted. Phil made a triple sub at 65’ to try to inject some new energy, bringing on Lee, Palmer, and Mullin while keeping Mariott on to form an attacking three, but the result remained the same. Stevenage’s Louis Thompson is my Man of the Match, while O’Connell was probably the best Dragon on the pitch today.
It’s a disappointing result to be sure, but Wrexham remain in second with 17 points - two points and three goals ahead of the final playoff position (Blackpool).
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Okonkwo, O’Connell, Scarr, O’Connor (Mullin 65’), Barnett, Dobson, Evans (Cannon 45’+2), Revan (Mendy 84’), McClean (Lee 65’), Marriott, Fletcher (Palmer 65’)
Bench: Burton, Brunt, Mendy, Cannon, Lee, Palmer, Mullin
Goals: STV - Louis Thompson (10’)
Yellow Cards:
WRX - O’Connor (39’), Cannon (68’), O’Connell (90+4’)
STV - Butler (27’), Roberts (88’)
Wrexham Women 2 - 3 Swansea City
The Wrexham Women returned to the STōK Cae Ras on Sunday, and with it came a return to the scoresheet. It did not, however, feature a return to the win column. Captain Keren Allen was another returnee, however, and featured in the starting XI following an injury. The Swans struck first and early, netting within the first ten minutes and holding possession for much of the first half. Ava Suckley found an equalizer at 35.’ This set off a flurry of promising efforts from the hosts, but ultimately the teams went into the tunnel all even. Wrexham kept their momentum in the second half, playing much better than the early part of the game, but Swansea retook the lead at 67’ and ten minutes later they doubled it thanks to an own-goal from Katie Sharp. Rosie Hughes entered the match from the bench at 85’ and at 90’ she found the net to give Wrexham hope going into stoppage time. But only five minutes were added on and despite Hughes putting in another promising chance, they couldn’t rally to claim a point.
Read the full report from Wrexham here.
And watch the highlights here or below:
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Wrexham: Craven, Sharp, Allen (Hughes 85’), Lovett (Cairns 79’), Pritchard, Clark (Gibbard 74’), Fuller, C.Jones (Lightfoot 74’), L.Jones, Suckley, Iddenden
Bench: Hughes, Cairns, Gibbard, Lightfoot, Ankers
Goals:
WRX - Suckley (35’), Hughes (90’)
SWN - John-Davis (11’), Williams (67’), Sharp (OG - 78’)
Yellow Cards: WRX - Allen (85’)
Current Tables
League One
Adran Premier
News from the Week:
10/12 Lincoln City Match Scratched
Wrexham’s match on 10/12 against Lincoln City will be rescheduled due to the number of international call-ups for Lincoln. That is, of course, the next international break on all the major league calendars with the UEFA Nations League matches and AFCON qualifiers all in play. No make-up date has been announced.
Max Cleworth Injury
As of this writing, Wrexham are still waiting to receive a full update on Max Cleworth. Injured in the dying moments of the Leyton Orient match, Max was helped off the field and looked to be in considerable pain. As noted above, Phil mentioned that he received damage to his “ankle ligaments” but also noted the defender had not undergone full tests yet (this was on Sunday). He was replaced by Dan Scarr in the lineup yesterday and seems virtually guaranteed to miss this weekend’s match with Northampton (and I’d assume the EFL Trophy match on Tuesday as well). Cleworth has been one of the biggest stars of the season thus far (and THE best player on the squad according to his FotMob rating), so any lengthy injury would be a big blow for the Reds. There is hope, however: Phil proclaimed the injury was “not as bad as we feared” yesterday.
Thankfully, Phil has considerable depth to play with at center-back. In addition to Scarr, he has Boyle, Brunt, Aaron James, and even Seb Revan has been known to play center-back from time to time. I would assume we’ll see Scarr in the starting XI again on Saturday.
George Evans Injury
Evans was injured minutes before halftime yesterday and initially played on after spending several minutes on the ground, only to go down again a few moments later. Parkinson’s update after the match was grim: “He felt something crack. I don’t know what it is, but it is a huge blow.”
Wrexham and the fans await the full report on Evans, but considering Phil’s statement the prognosis doesn’t look great. I take Phil’s “huge blow” comments to mean a lengthy absence is in store for George and that is, indeed, a huge blow to the midfield equation. While his starting position was eclipsed by Dobson, Evans is more defensive-minded and has still been a key part of the midfield this season. And with Rathbone’s injury still a question mark, this likely means more playing time for James Jones - although Phil did elect to put McClean in midfield while having Revan cover left wingback yesterday, so that could be the plan going forward on days where Lee/Cannon/Dobson need rest.
The Week Ahead
10/5 vs Northampton Town
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10am EST / 3:00pm BST
Wrexham and Northampton Town will meet for the first time since their 2005/2006 League Two campaign, with the Reds looking to best The Cobblers for the first time since 2001. Following two goalless outings, Wrexham needs to bounce back and 19th-place Northampton might just be the perfect chance to do it. First of all, we’re back at the Racecourse. This is ideal since we have one of the best home records on the pyramid with four straight wins and Northampton’s away record is 1-1-1. They are also dead last in expected goals and third in expected goals conceded.
As mentioned above, I’d expect to see Dan Scarr filling in for Max Cleworth, but given how serious Evans’ injury looked there’s virtually no way we see him this week either. I’d expect James Jones’ name on the bench for this one, unless Rathbone is ready to return.
EFL Trophy: 10/8 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy
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2:30pm EST / 7:30pm BST
Despite the opposing squad being a Premier League academy, I would assume Phil will still roll out the reserves for this second group stage match, just as he did against Salford in our first EFL Trophy fixture. That squad included Paul Mullin and he could very well be back in the starting XI here as he has yet to show he’s the better pick than Marriott for league games this season. Will Boyle joined Mullin on the scoresheet at Salford and I think he’ll be on the defensive line again here. I’d like to see the likes of Harry Ashfield and our record-signing Mo Faal get some playing time as well.
Women: Game Three
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The hunt continues for the Wrexham Women’s first victory - indeed, their first point - this Sunday against Aberystwyth Women. If ever there was a match to start a rebound, this is it. Aberystwyth are last on the eight-team table having scored only once (to our twice) and conceded a whopping fourteen goals across their first three matches. The New Saints are currently the holders of the fourth a final top half spot with six points, while leaders Briton Ferry and Cardiff City have nine. If the Wrexham Women want to contend for the title, they must win this match. Otherwise any hope of winning the league will likely be behind them and the focus will begin to shift to avoiding relegation. There are, after all, only eleven matches left in the first half of the season.