Wrexham 2 Bournemouth 2

13th January 2001: Nationwide League Division Two

Cheats Do Not Prosper

A last minute equaliser is, by its very nature, always satisfying, but Mark McGregor’s last-ditch goal today was particularly sweet. Not only did it earn Wrexham a point in a game which they dominated, but it punished a cynical Bournemouth side which had employed every time-wasting device in the book in an effort to avoid a repitition of their fate in the corresponding fixture last September, when two late goals allowed Wrexham to earn a victory despite trailing with three minutes left.

On this occasion, Jermaine Defoe followed the earlier example of Richard Hughes by staying down and feigning injury in an attempt to waste time with the clock running down, and after a lengthy stoppage for treatment was only removed from the pitch when an angry Kevin Dearden helped to carry him off! Inevitably, Defoe affected an immediate and miraculous recovery, asking permission to return, but the referee, distracted by the frenzy in the Bournemouth area as Wrexham threw men forward, failed to notice him, and as the visitors played with ten men Craig Faulconbridge chipped an inviting cross from the right which McGregor headed home.

Defoe showed the other side of his game as early as the sixth minute, though. An outstanding 18-year-old prospect on loan from West Ham, he looks to be a name to watch. Having already commanded a £1.8 million transfer fee from Charlton, he looks too good for the Second Division, had hit ten goals in nine games before today, and broke a club record which had stood since 1927 when he scored in eight consecutive games. Defoe didn’t take long to maintain this form, either, latching onto a long punt over the top and accelerating away from McGregor, taking the ball smoothly in his stride and finishing dismissively with his left foot as Dearden advanced.

In truth, that was the extent of Bournemouth’s threat in the first half. Wrexham dominated the rest of the period, passing the ball well in midfield with Martyn Chalk and Gareth Owen particularly energetic and Faulconbridge fighting for everything up front. However, they struggled to create clear-cut chances, and until the closing stages of the half were limited to a couple of long distance shots which whistled wide from Owen and Chalk and a superb clearing header by Eddie Howe as Faulconbridge tried to get on the end of a Bouanane cross.

The half ended with two good opportunities, though. First Kevin Russell ought to have equalised against one of his old clubs when Bouanane hit a ball over the top to send him clear, but having drawn the goalkeeper, he lobbed the ball wide of the left post. Then, in the last minute of the half, Bouanane, who unencumbered by the need to do much defending had been a major attacking threat, embarked on a typical charge through the centre, skipped round a challenge by Jorgensen, and lifted a shot over Stewart from the edge of the box which hit the bar and bounced over. He was later to have the crowd on their feet with a wonderful charge through the centre which saw him beat four men on his way to the edge of the area, where he trod on the ball to remind us of his contradictory nature! As it would turn out, his only decisive contribution in either penalty area would be a costly one.

Wrexham started the second half similarly, penning Bournemouth back as they pressed increasingly strongly for an equaliser. In response, the Cherries immediately sought to defend what they had, wasting time at every conceivable opportunity, and a few inconcievable ones! Not to put too fine a point on it, they played a young referee for a fool, and Mister Clatterburg’s failure even to request that they hurried up when taking throws or free kicks, never mind issue yellow cards for time-wasting, was remarkable.

Terrific work by Russell and Faulconbridge retrieved a lost cause and held the ball up until Owen arrived to hit a rocket of a drive from twenty-five yards which whistled past the post with Stewart rooted to the spot. Then Chalk did well to carry the ball into the box before slipping a pass behind the left wing-back to Carlos Edwards, whose shot from a tight angle was well parried. It therefore came as something of a blow when, as the pressure mounted, Wrexham conceded a second goal. It began when McGregor lost the ball cheaply under pressure from Defoe. Carl Fletcher picked it up and did well to carry it to the edge of the box under pressure before playing a pass to the far post which Boaunane, facing his own goal, ought to have dealt with. However, it skimmed off his foot as he tried to control it and rolled through to James Hayter, who blasted it past Dearden from close range.

Ironically, this goal might not have been a bad thing for Wrexham, as within two minutes they had pulled one back and were able to attack with new momentum. Having failed to provide enough quality from the right despite constantly being found by Ferguson in good crossing positions, Edwards swung a hopeful high ball in from deep on the right which carried over Broadhurst’s head to Russell, who met it with a terrific looping header from fifteen yards out which soared over Stewart and into the net.

With the crowd in good voice, Wrexham went on the charge looking for an equaliser which was the least they deserved. Michael Blackwood replaced the wasteful Edwards and immediately went close, picking up a delightful pass which Faulconbridge slipped inside the right back and blasting a shot from the corner of the box which curved away from goal and shaved the far post. Then Chalk went desperately close when he latched onto a half-cleared corner and smashed a volley which beat the unsighted keeper and went narrowly wide. As time passed Brian Flynn withdrew Chalk, making a final throw of the dice by introducing Andy Morrell, who hit the equaliser when that remarkable late win was snatched at Dean Court at the start of the season, and was preferred to Hector Sam on the bench on the basis of a superior showing in the midweek reserve match. Morrell linked up well with Faulconbridge, showing signs that he might be the best suited striker Wrexham have to latch onto the target man’s flicks, with Russell on the right wing and Blackwood on the left. Bournemouth were penned into their box, and as the drama of the final minute unfolded both Wrexham’s centre backs took up a permanent posting in attack as well, with decisive results in the case of McGregor who, without Defoe to shepherd, was given scope to snatch that last ditch equaliser which was the least Wrexham deserved.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Dearden; Phillips, Carey (c), McGregor, Bouanane; Chalk (Morrell 85), Ferguson, Owen; Edwards (Blackwood 73), Russell, Faulconbridge. UNUSED SUBS: Walsh, D Williams, Moody.

BOURNEMOUTH (3-5-2): Stewart; Broadhurst, Tindall, Howe; Jorgensen, Hayter, C Fletcher, Hughes, Cummings; Defoe, S Fletcher (c). UNUSED SUBS: Menetier, Narada, Day, Elliott, Huck.

Referee: M. Clatterburg (Chester-le-Street)

Bookings:
	Wrexham	Bournemouth
	McGregor (foul on Defoe, 50)	S Fletcher (accumulation, 45)
	Carey (role in brawl, 80)	Jorgensen (foul on Bouanane, 80)
	Bouanane (foul on Hughes, 90)	Hughes (retaliation, 90)

Attendance: 2,852

Reaction: Brian Flynn / Mark McGregor :

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