Wrexham 4 Aberystwyth Town 0

23rd January 2001: FAW Premier Cup Group A

Faithful Rewarded With Faulconbridge Triple

The faithful few who attended this Welsh Premier Cup fixture – it attracted the lowest attendance in the Racecourse’s history! – were given full reward with an entertaining match, capped by a Craig Faulconbridge hat trick as Wrexham ran down a game Aberystwyth side which ran out of steam after a promising first half.

Selecting a full strength team as the weather has restricted the players’ opportunities for match practice, Brian Flynn saw his side set off at a cracking pace, piecing together a number of neat moves. Faulconbridge was given an early chance when Kevin Russell executed his second dummy of a neat move, but failed to get his body round the ball and lashed it high into the empty Kop. Darren Ferguson and Gareth Owen also went close, with a free kick and a twenty yard drive respectively, before Town started to show some promise.

As ever, Emad Bouanane was offering enterprise down the left but leaving gaps behind him which the opposition sought to exploit, and a series of crosses from that flank ought to have brought some reward for the visitors. It was perhaps fortunate for Wrexham that the provider of these crosses was often Paul Evans, a burly target man who probably would have made a better fist of converting them into goals than his colleagues. Early on, he picked out Steve Mardenborough who mistimed a header which Dearden saved easily, and after tricking his way past Bouanane and McGregor he set up a free header for Glyndwr Hughes, six yards out, which he misjudged, failing to make contact with the ball. Hughes also missed another glaring chance when he was allowed another free contact from Gavin O’Toole’s free kick, but headed well over. He perhaps summed up Town’s problems, as his approach play was lively but he lacked quality in the box. It was ironically appropriate that his best effort of the half was unintentional, when Kevin Dearden pushed his corner onto the bar and behind.

Wrexham had lacked invention as Aberystwyth mounted these threatening counter-attacks, but they came on strong at the end of the half. A reckless foul by Tony Smith on Ferguson in the D earned a yellow card and Ferguson’s typical quick free kick was superbly tipped round the post by Jason Matthews. The breakthrough was not long in coming, though, and it was a reward for persistence rather than guile. It began with a break by Carlos Edwards, teeing up Owen, whose shot was bravely charged down. However, the ball was finally scrambled back to Edweards, who might have cut in and shot from the edge of the area, but instead beat his man on the outside and pulled back a cross which Faulconbridge swept in from close range.

The goal calmed nerves and Wrexham were dominant from the start of the half, notwithstanding a cheeky effort within ten seconds of the restart, when Hughes raced down the wing, latched onto the kick off and tried a twenty yard chip which went wide with Dearden stranded. Michael Blackwood came on for Ferguson, who had twisted a knee just before the break and might have been doubtful for Saturday’s match had it not been postponed today, and the switch to 4-4-2 stretched Town out. Blackwood is an old-fashioned winger who dribbles and chips in measured crosses, and within ten minutes of his introduction he had helped to set up the second goal. His break through the centre gave impetus to a move which Wrexham capitalised upon, Russell picking up Faulconbridge’s back-heel and sending Chalk away down the left. His cross was too high for Russell, but he glanced it on to Edwards, who lashed a volley home via a defender on the line.

Dave Ridler, back from a lengthy suspension, and Waynne Phillips were given a half hour run, and the latter gave perhaps his best performance of the season so far, making some driving runs from midfield. He had no hand in the next goal, though, as in the absence of the replaced Owen and Ferguson, Blackwood took a perfect corner from the right which went over the keeper and allowed Faulconbridge to head into the open goal from close range, bundling McGregor into the net in the bargain. He soon had a chance to register his hat trick when Blackwood again delivered from the flank, his cross deflecting to the striker who, having to adjust quickly to the ball’s altered flight, could only steer it into the side-netting as the goal gaped.

Carlos Edwards spurned a glorious chance to add to his tally when Russell sent him clear only to slice his shot wildly wide, but he was to make a more positive contribution moments later. Following typically intelligent set-up play by Russell, Phillips embarked on one of those direct charges to the edge of the box before teeing up Edwards, whose instant stabbed cross to the edge of the six-yard box was lashed gleefully into the roof of the net by Faulconbridge. The goal clinched a well-deserved hat trick for a player who has a terrific appetite for hard work and, along with Mark McGregor, has been Wrexham’s most consistent player this season. He might even have got a fourth when he met an Edwards corner with a towering header which went just wide with Matthews planted on the spot.

Town were clearly tiring now, although Hughes whipped a good shot just wide and they did have a goal disallowed when Mardenborough lashed a twenty five yard shot past Dearden which the referee surprisingly allowed initially despite the fact that the linesman had already flagged for shirt-pulling on McGregor, who had stopped playing, such was the palpability of the foul. They nearly conceded an embarrassing fifth when Mulliner, on as a late substitute goalkeeper, came unneccessarily to the corner flag but scuffed a flat clearance to Edwards, who hit an early shot at the open goal only to see it drift wide.

The best move of the match was reserved for injury time, when a flurry of one-touch football saw Phillips feed Edwards, whose cross was volleyed narrowly wide from the edge of the area by Russell. It would have been a just reward for Russell, although it was somehow fitting that Faulconbridge’s thunder should not have been stolen: this was, emphatically, his night.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Dearden; Roche, Carey (c) (Ridler 60), McGregor, Bouanane; Chalk, Ferguson (Blackwood 46), Owen (Phillips 60); Faulconbridge, Russell. UNUSED SUBS: Walsh, Morrell.

ABERYSTWYTH TOWN (3-4-1-2): Matthews (Mulliner 86); Barrow, Lewis (c), Thomas; Hughes, Smith, O’Toole, Allen, Gornell (Nicholas 86); Mardenborough, Evans (Tappin 75). UNUSED SUBS: Jones, Carree.

Bookings:
Wrexham		Aberystwyth Town
Ferguson (foul on O’Toole, 43)		Smith (foul on Ferguson, 42)
		O’Toole (dissent, 84)
		Thomas (foul on Russell, 84)

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