Cambridge Utd

10th March 2001: Nationwide Laegue Division Two

Just Another Day at the Office!

The Wrexham revival rolls on. In a remarkable parallel with the victory at Walsall which kick-started this four game winning run, they came back from 2-0 down with Lee Trundle again the inspiration, scoring a superb goal to bring the score to 2-1, then embarking on another injury time surge to set up a winner, this time for Andy Morrell. Nothing sums up the newly-found spirit of this Wrexham side better than the fact that they have scored in the last minute or later in each of the last four matches, but it could have all turned out very differently.

With the same side fielded again, Wrexham entered the game with confidence, especially when they found that Lionel Perez, whose heroics had earned Cambridge a draw when the sides met in a one-sided encounter at The Racecourse earlier this season, was not fit enough to play. After a lacklustre start, when Tom Cowan might have done better than head straight at Kevin Dearden from a Duncan free kick, Wrexham began to impose themselves, and ought to have emerged in the lead following a lengthy spell of sustained pressure midway through the half.

With United pushing up a long way, a numer of hairline offside decisions went their way, Gibson looking to be particularly unlucky after Barrett had sent him clear. The threat to United’s goal began, inevitably, when the hitherto quiet Trundle came to life, although his finishing was uncharacterisically awry. First he picked up on a sloppy pass at the back to launch a typical direct run at the heart of the United defence, but drove a disappointing shot straight at the keeper when Morrell was unmarked in the box. The two strikers were combining dangerously, and Morrell set Trundle up with a glorious opportunity to open the scoring shortly afterwards, sending him totally clear on goal, but his low drive was well parried by Marshall. Within moments another defensive error could have proved costly, Dreyer backpass beating his keeper and finding its way behind as Barrett chased after it. From the corner came a procession of chances, Carey having a header cleared off the line for another flag kick which was again met by the Wrexham skipper, this time with a volley, and scrambled away from under the bar.

Barrett also went close, rifling a volley just wide, and Gibson, who provided a succession of teasing crosses, whipped one across the face of goal after being sent down the flank by an excellent Ridler pass. Then Morrell, Gibson and Ferguson combined well to give Russell an opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box which he didn’t get hold of cleanly, Marshall pushing it round the post, and from the corner Carey had a shout for handball turned down.

By now Cambridge’s attacking threat was virtually non-existant, although Riza and Youngs at least offered some hope with their pace. However, a sloppy passage of play in injury time allowed them to snatch an unexpected lead and leave Wrexham to rue their failure to take their chances. The back four had looked very solid until this point, but a woefully short backpass by Ridler allowed Riza to draw Dearden out before pulling back for Youngs, whose shot was blocked on the line by Carey and hacked away by Ridler. A cross sent the ball back in to the far post, Riza whipped a cross in and Carey, despite having time, must have got no shout and put it behind. The corner would see this sloppy passage of play punished as Paul Wanless rose to head firmly in, despite the efforts of the despairing Dearden, who got his hands to it but was defeated by the pace on the ball.

One might have expected more vigour from Wrexham at the resumption, but they were strangely tame until Brian Flynn changed things around, throwing Michael Blackwood on to switch to 4-4-2. Things now started to happen as the two wingers got behind the wing-backs and began to stretch an already shaky back three. McGregor headed a Ferguson corner just wide from fifteen yards, and moments later another corner was met again by the left back, whose header was flicked on by Carey to Morrell, whose glancing contact beat the keeper but bounced to safety off the bar.

Cambridge looked in disarray, but seemed to have clinched the three points when a dramatic passage of play saw Wrexham spurn two great chances, directly followed by the home side’s second goal. The first chance fell to Gibson, after a free kick was cleared to Ridler, whose ball over the top put the winger clear on goal. Gibson’s first touch killed the falling ball perfectly, but his drive failed to hit the targer when he had time to take on the keeper. This chance faded into insignificance when compared to what followed it, though. Gibson nipped in front of Joseph and drove in a cross which found Morrell at the far post, five yards out from an open goal, but inexplicably he shot wide. The miss was punished within a minute, Cambridge embarking on a rare foray into Wrexham’s half which saw debutant Terry Fleming, switched up front by three substitutions, latch onto a loose ball, ride a challenge, and drive home from close range.

It seemed the bubble had burst, but in fact Lee Trundle was merely timing his entrance! The second goal sparked an immediate response when Carey chipped narrowly over from outside the box, but soon Wrexham’s inspiration was to show his skipper how to execute such a manouevre. Shrugging off a challenge on the turn and charging through the middle, Trundle did well to stay on his feet as a foul challenge attempted to halt his progress and beat Marshall with an exquisite chip from twenty five yards before racing past the defeated keeper to retrieve the ball from the net and further stoke up the vocal band of Wrexham supporters.

With Williams coming on for Russell to add steel to midfield, Wrexham continued to press. Joseph had to be alert to head behind after Carey and McGregor, who won more than their fair share of headers from set pieces, combined to put a dangerous ball under the bar. The defenders’ travails in the air were added to when, in a bold gamble, Flynn replaced Lee Roche with Craig Faulconbridge, leaving Wrexham with three defenders, three strikers and two out-and-out wingers. Faulconbridge’s first touch almost brought a reward when he headed a free kick back to Blackwood, who was unaware that he had been found unmarked on the edge of the box as he was recoiling from an off-the-ball incident which left him clutching his face.

The breakthrough seemed inevitable, given the paucity of Cambridge’s defending and Wrexham’s recent feisty pedigree. It came when a superb piece of skill by Blackwood in the centre of midfield enabled him to turn away from two defenders and pick out Ferguson. His pass spread the ball to Gibson, whose cross was easily taken by Marshall, but a stupid push in the back of Morrell by a defender meant the referee had no option but to award a penalty. Furious protests followed, but Darren Ferguson kept his cool and sent the keeper the wrong way.

As at Luton, Wrexham opted to be bold, stick to three at the back and press for the win rather than be satisfied with the draw. With Cambridge also pressing , the atmosphere was febrile, and the referee, who had been inexplicably generous earlier in the match as Wanless and Cowan committed cast iron yellow card challenges, finally had to start dishing out bookings. Joseph was lucky not to be punished when he kicked a free kick fiercely at Trundle, and when the striker sought retribution with a late challenge he picked up a booking, although the crowd wanted more as the centre back milked the situation. Instead, he was to find that provoking Trundle merely acts as a spur. In the last minute the talismanic striker picked the ball up in the box, twisted and turned to create a shooting angle and blasted a shot which drew a fine parry at his near post by Marshall. In injury time he finally fashioned the breakthrough, surging down the right and flicking a fine ball back with his left foot to Morrell, whose diving header hit the net to the delight of the impressively large away support. It was a fitting reward for an afternoon of toil and, eventually, inspiration. Having seemed to be doomed to defeat against opposition which was mediocre at best, Wrexham righted themselves to pull off yet another dramatic comeback. How could we have doubted them?

Reaction: Brian Flynn / Andy Morrell

CAMBRIDGE UNITED (3-5-2): Marshall; Joseph, Dreyer, Duncan; Fleming, Oakes (Russell 46), Wanless, Ashbee, Cowan; Riza (Taylor 46), Youngs (Mustoe 54). UNUSED SUBS: Mercer, McNeil.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Dearden; Roche (Faulconbridge 77), Carey (c), Ridler, McGregor; Barrett (Blackwood 57), Ferguson, Russell (Williams 77); Gibson, Morrell , Trundle. UNUSED SUBS: Walsh, Edwards.

Referee: Lee Cable (Woking)

Bookings:
Cambridge United		Wrexham
Fleming (Foul on McGregor, 90)		Ridler (Foul on Taylor, 85)
		Trundle (Foul on Joseph, 87)

Attendance: 4,958

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