Halifax Town

9th December 2000: LDV Vans Trophy Round 1

Now That’s What I Call Awful

Just when it was hoped a corner might have been turned at home comes a performance which, hopefully, will be seen as the lowpoint of the season. Indeed, it is hard to think of a worse performance during Brian Flynn’s reign, as the Robins crashed to a deserved defeat at home to the team which lie 23rd in Division Three and were recently well beaten at home by Gateshead in the F.A. Cup.

Admittedly, Town have shown signs of improvement recently, but they should still have been dispatched. Instead, Wrexham struggled to string their passes together and fell victim to a classic smash and grab victory when the first on-target shot Halifax could manage decided the game. In what might be seen as a fatal underestimation of Halifax’s potential, Dave Walsh was given a start, but this decision rebounded on the Wrexham management team. In the 58th minute Walsh came for a cross but punched it up in the air when he ought to have caught it. The ball had to be scrambled out for a throw, from which Gary Jones was found by Kerrigan, and although his shot from a tight angle on the right was accurate, it lacked punch, but found its way under Walsh’s hands for the decisive goal. Moments later, Halifax’s only other on-target shot trickled tamely to the keeper, but the damage was done, and Wrexham rarely looked like penetrating a packed final third of the pitch.

The writing was on the wall from the start, with Wrexham creating little in a lacklustre first half. Indeed both Carl Rezai, a seventeen-year-old forced into action by Town’s injuries, and the impressive Peter Murphy cut in from the left to drive narrowly wide. Further problems were caused by returning Racecourse favourite, Neil Wainwright, on loan from Sunderland, who gave Phil Hardy a torrid time and delivered a number of dangerous crosses. The fact that it was often Martyn Chalk who made the clearing headers in the goalmouth showed that from early on Town were causing Wrexham more organisational problems than one might expect, although it also illustrated that the midfielder was having another industrious afternoon, and he was regularly involved in Wrexham’s rare moments of promise, often pulling wider than in recent games to give width down the right.

Wrexham toiled in midfield, with Ferguson forced increasingly deeper to find space. As a result, the strikers received little decent service, although Wrexham’s best moments tended to come from Hector Sam’s ability to hold the ball up in a crowded area. An early drive by him was well blocked by Murphy, and he set up a good chance soon afterwards when, after swapping passes at pace with Faulconbrisge, he rounded the goalkeeper before pulling the ball back to Owen, whose stinging drive was superbly blocked by Wilder with the keeper struggling to get back between the posts. Sam went close himself late in the half when he turned well and drove a left-footed shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area, and Butler had to be a full stretch to beat Faulconbridge to a through ball twenty yards out, but Wrexham’s best effort of the half, indeed of the match, came in the last minute, when a corner was scrambled out to the edge of the box where Dave Ridler, on for the injured Lee Roche, did well to swivel and hit an immediate left-footed shot on the turn which whizzed narrowly wide of the post with Butler beaten.

Wrexham started the half quickly, no doubt stung by a good talking-to in the changing room, and went close after thirty seconds when Sam surged through the centre before feeding Bouanane down the left, whose cross into the path of the Trinidadian was struck firmly on the half volley but was well blocked by Mitchell. This early promise proved misleading, though, as the home side quickly regressed, and Town took the lead. Wrexham’s play had an air of desperation after this, summed up by a desperate quick free kick by Brian Carey, lashed hopelessly over the bar from twentyfive yards, as Ferguson set himself to shoot. It would be unfair to single Carey out, though, as his performance was one of the few bright lights for Wrexham as he strove manfully to drive his team forward and made a number of fine tackles.

Emad Bouanane, chosen on the wing ahead of Robin Gibson, did not have such a happy match, though, although he did lash one decent drive over from twenty yards. He missed a rare clearcut chance late on after Owen drilled a superb ball from deep in his own half to send Sam away, and the striker carried the ball to the box before pulling back a pass which Bouanane raced onto. Although the ball fell on his weaker right foot, he still should have done better than scuff a poor shot straight at the keeper. Sam also linked well to set up a chance by Ferguson, but his deflected shot arced over the keeper and agonisingly wide.

Two substitutions altered the shape of the side, although not to the liking of the crowd. After 67 minutes Craig Faulconbridge was replaced by Kevin Russell, a move which meant Wrexham lacked a big man up front when their efforts to claw themselves got back into the match got frantic late on. His loss was felt further when Chalk was replaced by Robin Gibson, the formation shifting to 4-4-2, as the right winger immediately made an impact, offering rare flashes of hope as the game drew to a close. He often got into good crossing positions, but had no big target to aim for, and the closest he came to affecting a breakthrough came when he beat Clarke and Stoneman but no one could get to his cross, which was hacked away from under the bar by Wilder.

It rather summed up Wrexham’s afternoon that two of their closest efforts in the closing stages came from misheaders by defenders, with both ex-Cardiff players, Middleton and Mitchell, planting headers narrowly over their own bar. Such an equaliser would have been unfair – indeed, any type of equaliser would have been unfair. Wrexham were well beaten by their lowly opposition, and must ensure that they do not perform in such a manner again this season.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Walsh; Roche (Ridler 21), Carey (c), McGregor, Hardy; Ferguson, Owen, Chalk (Gibson 73); Bouanane, Faulconbridge (Russell 67), Sam. UNUSED SUBS: Dearden, Warren.

HALIFAX TOWN (4-4-2): Butler; Wilder, Mitchell, Stoneman, Murphy; Wainwright, Thompson, Middleton, Rezai; Jones (Reilly 89), Kerrigan (M. Clarke, 86). UNUSED SUBS: C. Clarke, Hawe, Shannon.

Referee: Mark Warren (Walsall)

Bookings:
Wrexham	Halifax
–	–

Attendance: 1,545

Reaction: Brian Flynn / Paul Bracewell

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