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5th September 2000: Worthington Cup First Round Second Leg

League Cup Nightmare Continues

Just when it seemed the League Cup hoodoo was broken, Wrexham managed to cap all the disappointments of the last ten years with a disasterous home defeat to a lower division team which in the process ended a club record fourteen games without victory. A miserable crowd of 1,447 were present, and the Robins might have been relieved that so few witnessed their capitulation.

It was an horrendous first half performance by the Robins, who were powerless to prevent Mansfield’s smash-and-grab tactics coming to fruition. Forced to play not only in front of Town’s defence, but in front of their packed midfield as well, Wrexham lacked penetration, with Ferguson an unusually peripheral figure. Meanwhile, Town broke dangerously and a Wrexham defence shorn of the injured Brian Carey were unable to prevent two fine breakaway goals by Wayne Corden. The first came from a Gareth Owen corner – Bobby Mimms rose to claim it at the far\post and speared an immediate throw to Greenacre on the halfway line. Wrexham were caught seriously short-handed at the back, with only Roche and Gibson back, as Greenacre’s glancing header sent Lee Williams away and he held the ball up intelligently before rolling it square to Corden, who coolly slotted the ball under Rogers, giving the young keeper no chance. The second, coming in the 42nd minute, was a real beauty, Corden cutting inside Roche and curling the ball superbly into the top far corner.

In response, Wrexham were sluggish through midfield, and threatened only through the pace of Sam, who struck the post from the edge of the area when the score was 1-0 and spurned a glorious opportunity in injury time when Ferguson sent him clear, but an awful first touch squirted the ball through to Mimms. The gap in invention between the two sides was illustrated perfectly as the half drew to a close when Greenacre hit a tremendous first time shot from 45 yards which Rogers did well to catch, backpedalling, under his bar. Greenacre and Blake both scored similar goals in the first two games of Town’s season, so the policy was clearly pre-meditated, but it was in stark contrast to Wrexham’s moribund performance.

Paul Barrett and Carlos Edwards, freshly arrived from Trinidad, were brought on at the restart to replace Williams and Gibson, and their enthusiasm sparked a fightback as the home side tried to rescue some pride. Owen pulled a shot wide after good build-up play by the two West Indians, and Edwards was unlucky when he rounded the keeper but, from a tight angle, was unable to come up with a shot. The key moment came in the 65th minute, when Sam did well down the right and drove a cross to the far post where Mark McGregor, seeing the ball late, headed over an open goal from close range. A goal might have given impetus to Wrexham’s efforts, but as it was the story continued to be plenty of possessiuon but no penetration as the final ball proved elusive against a massed defence. Martyn Chalk was introduced to add an extra attacker, but the tie was finally ended in the 85th minute when Chris Greenacre capitalised on some sloppy defending by Ridler and Roberts to blast another goal past the helpless Rogers. The crowd melted away, apart from those who remained to hurl abuse at the final whistle, having witnessed the worst League Cup disaster of this recent barren spell.

WREXHAM (4-3-3): Rogers; Roche (Chalk 72), Roberts, Ridler, McGregor; Ferguson, Owen, Williams (Barrett 46); Gibson (Edwards 46), Faulconbridge, Sam. UNUSED SUBS: Dearden, Moody.

MANSFIELD TOWN (4-5-1): Mimms; Lomas, Hicks, Robinson (c), Andrews (Asher 81); Williams (Williamson 88), Blake, Hassell, Clarke, Corden; Greenacre. UNUSED SUBS: Disley, Boulding, White.

Referee: Eddie Wolstenholme (Blackburn)

Bookings:
	Wrexham	Mansfield
	Owen (foul on Clarke, 68)	Hassell (foul on Williams, 33)
		Blake (late tackle, 73)

Attendance: 1,447

Reaction: Brian Flynn

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