With surprisingly little Bank Holiday football on offer it was back to the Racecourse Ground for more non-league Blue Square Premier action.
Following two more surprise defeats to against Kettering and Tamworth recently, the pressure on Wrexham manager Dean Saunders had increased slightly.
As for the visitors, I must admit I have a soft spot for the Cumbrian club. Their joint-manager ex-Wrexham centre-back Dave Bayliss gave me one of my early interviews when I started out in journalism a couple of years ago.
Forthright, knowledgeable about the game and an all round top bloke, since taking over with Darren Sheridan less than 2 years ago their transformation of Barrow’s fortunes has been remarkable.
Barrow’s right-back, Simon Spender along with centre-half Phil Bolland made up a trio of former Wrexham players in the Bluebirds squad. After stepping up to full-time training during the summer though, like Wrexham, they have made a mixed start.
The away side set their stall out early on to contain and frustrate the Dragons and it worked. Wes Baynes, a right-wing-back pushed into a new forward role, he looked likeliest to break Barrow’s resolve with his creativity and willingness to shoot, testing goalkeeper Tim Deasy.
It wasn’t all defensive work for Barrow and when pushing forward Spender fired a long-range shot that sailed just over the top corner. Overall though there were few chances with Wrexham content to keep possession along their back-line and play in front of the Barrow back four when they ventured forward.
Following possibly the worst comedian / half-time entertainment ever seen at the Racecourse, the game unfolded in much the same way as the first-half. Both sides did have one golden opportunity to break the deadlock however.
Barrow’s highly-rated forward Jason Walker turned Wrexham skipper Ashley Westwood and fired a shot across the front of goal narrowly wide. At the other end roles reversed as Westwood’s powerful header from a corner was headed off the line by Walker.
The game’s talking point occurred with 15 minutes to go when attention was drawn to a touchline row. Dave Bayliss had stormed out of his technical area to confront Westwood who appeared in an ‘off-the-ball’ incident to have left Barrow striker Jon Shaw with a bloodied face and shirt.
No action was taken against Westwood while Bayliss was escorted down the tunnel after trying the patience of the officials with his angry protests. In the end he didn’t miss much.
Despite changes made by Saunders Barrow did a professional job of holding onto their point. They were arguably the better side in the last 10 minutes and had they shown a little more ambition, could have stolen a win.
Barrow earned the result and clean sheet they came for and should improve again on last season.
Wrexham must see this as another 2 points dropped even at this early stage. Though teams above them will drop points, they currently don’t look capable of putting together a sustained run themselves yet and still struggle against the so called lesser teams of this division.
Man of the Match: Wes Baynes. Difficult to choose, but Baynes has adapted well to his new role and came closer than anyone to making something happen for Wrexham. It’s hard to pick out an individual for Barrow as their point came as a result of a real team performance.
Showing posts with label Blue Square Premier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Square Premier. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Wrexham 1-0 York City
The first evening kick-off of the season saw a swift return to the Racecourse Ground for Wrexham’s second home game of the season. After surprisingly losing away to Crawley Town at the weekend they needed to bounce back quickly.
Mid-week games always carry a slightly different atmosphere, especially in the summer when the game kicks off in bright sunshine, but as the light fades throughout the evening, the floodlights see it to its conclusion.
The visitors York City are another former Football League club to have lost their way slightly in the Blue Square Premier. They only ensured safety from relegation in only their penultimate fixture last term, but did make it to the FA Trophy Final losing to Stevenage at Wembley.
Managed by Martin Foyle, assistant to Brian Little at Wrexham just a year ago, their line-up featured two former Dragons. Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Michael Ingham was a popular figure at the club in two separate spells, while midfielder Levi Mackin came up through the ranks at the Racecourse.
Within the first few minutes of the game Wrexham goalkeeper Sam Russell was called into action to save from Michael Gash who had exploited Wrexham’s defensive unease.
The away team looked much the better side and ironically, given that Foyle was part of a management team that favoured a ‘route-one’ approach during his time at Wrexham, they passed the ball along the ground well.
Wrexham didn’t seem to get going and created very little at all going forward. Striker Matty Wolfenden toiled hard up front but to no avail. With no real link between the midfield and forward line he was feeding off scraps.
The previously impressive Hedi Taboubi was ineffective, second in most midfield challenges and poor in his distribution.
In contrast was the performance of Mackin for York. Many a time when he was at Wrexham he had been the object of fans frustration, often unfairly. Now he looked confident, composed, showed an excellent range of passing and no little skill on the ball dictating the play at the heart of York’s midfield.
For the quality of their possession however, York also lacked bite up front with Rankine and Gash failing to stretch Wrexham’s back four. The score remained goalless at half-time.
Into the second period Wrexham manager Dean Saunders made an inspired change swapping the hard-work of Wolfenden for the lightning speed of Adrian Cieslewicz. The Pole’s pace saw him get beyond the York defence, playing his part in a move that finished with a goal for Gareth Taylor.
The 36 year-old looked to be offside as he glanced home an Andy Fleming cross, but if he was, it evened out the many occasions when Wrexham have been on the receiving end of poor decisions from officials in this division.
Chasing the game at 1-0 down with half-an-hour left, York did now revert to a long-ball game. They introduced Richard Brodie and Adam Smith specifically for the purpose. This was countered when Saunders replaced Taboubi with Christian Smith to close the game down which he did with effect.
Wrexham had done enough to take the 3 points though a draw might have been a fairer reflection of the game. Both teams played well in parts, and though Wrexham might get punished for such a slow start against the better teams in this league, they appear to be over their blip at Crawley.
On the evidence of this performance York should do much better than last season’s limp over the finish line in avoiding relegation, looking good enough for mid-table at least.
Man of the Match: Silvio Spann. The Trinidad & Tobago international received a standing ovation when he was substituted towards the end and rightly so. Something of a misfit as a midfielder in his first two years at Wrexham, since being converted to right-back during pre-season he has been a revelation and not put a foot wrong. Levi Mackin was York City’s leading candidate for the award.
Mid-week games always carry a slightly different atmosphere, especially in the summer when the game kicks off in bright sunshine, but as the light fades throughout the evening, the floodlights see it to its conclusion.
The visitors York City are another former Football League club to have lost their way slightly in the Blue Square Premier. They only ensured safety from relegation in only their penultimate fixture last term, but did make it to the FA Trophy Final losing to Stevenage at Wembley.
Managed by Martin Foyle, assistant to Brian Little at Wrexham just a year ago, their line-up featured two former Dragons. Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Michael Ingham was a popular figure at the club in two separate spells, while midfielder Levi Mackin came up through the ranks at the Racecourse.
Within the first few minutes of the game Wrexham goalkeeper Sam Russell was called into action to save from Michael Gash who had exploited Wrexham’s defensive unease.
The away team looked much the better side and ironically, given that Foyle was part of a management team that favoured a ‘route-one’ approach during his time at Wrexham, they passed the ball along the ground well.
Wrexham didn’t seem to get going and created very little at all going forward. Striker Matty Wolfenden toiled hard up front but to no avail. With no real link between the midfield and forward line he was feeding off scraps.
The previously impressive Hedi Taboubi was ineffective, second in most midfield challenges and poor in his distribution.
In contrast was the performance of Mackin for York. Many a time when he was at Wrexham he had been the object of fans frustration, often unfairly. Now he looked confident, composed, showed an excellent range of passing and no little skill on the ball dictating the play at the heart of York’s midfield.
For the quality of their possession however, York also lacked bite up front with Rankine and Gash failing to stretch Wrexham’s back four. The score remained goalless at half-time.
Into the second period Wrexham manager Dean Saunders made an inspired change swapping the hard-work of Wolfenden for the lightning speed of Adrian Cieslewicz. The Pole’s pace saw him get beyond the York defence, playing his part in a move that finished with a goal for Gareth Taylor.
The 36 year-old looked to be offside as he glanced home an Andy Fleming cross, but if he was, it evened out the many occasions when Wrexham have been on the receiving end of poor decisions from officials in this division.
Chasing the game at 1-0 down with half-an-hour left, York did now revert to a long-ball game. They introduced Richard Brodie and Adam Smith specifically for the purpose. This was countered when Saunders replaced Taboubi with Christian Smith to close the game down which he did with effect.
Wrexham had done enough to take the 3 points though a draw might have been a fairer reflection of the game. Both teams played well in parts, and though Wrexham might get punished for such a slow start against the better teams in this league, they appear to be over their blip at Crawley.
On the evidence of this performance York should do much better than last season’s limp over the finish line in avoiding relegation, looking good enough for mid-table at least.
Man of the Match: Silvio Spann. The Trinidad & Tobago international received a standing ovation when he was substituted towards the end and rightly so. Something of a misfit as a midfielder in his first two years at Wrexham, since being converted to right-back during pre-season he has been a revelation and not put a foot wrong. Levi Mackin was York City’s leading candidate for the award.
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