Wrexham: December 2010

Hello FM fans and welcome back to my Wrexham football manager story.

After a month which was as exciting as getting teeth pulled I was hoping December would bring us some Christmas cheer. We started of with and all Welsh encounter with the visit of Newport County. Kevin Gall put us ahead after 15 minutes by standing in the right place in the box as the ball bounced around and fell fortuitously at his feet to tap home. A excellent run and cross again by Lyskov met the head of Pogba who doubled our lead before the half hour after which we decided to take a nap and let Newport run the rest of the game. Fortunately they could only manage a consolation goal late in the game but deserved a draw for their effort.

Next up was a long, cold and wet trip to Barrow and the match turned out much to be the same. Despite having the greater posession we could only come up with one shot on target but to be fair we could have drawn the game if Chris Blackburn’s header hadn’t been cleared off the line. Our unbeaten run of ten games had come to an end.

We were back at The Racecourse Ground for the following game which was our FA Cup replay against Rushden & Diamonds. Adrian Cieslewicz put us ahead after thirty minutes with a lovely cut inside from the right flank and a neatly placed shot into the net. The visitors provided stiff competition on a frosty surface and were rewarded with an equalizer after 71 minutes. Once again we struggled up front and paid the price as the game went to a penalty shootout and we missed on our first three attempts and crashed out of the cup.

We were faced with another cup game next and this time against Carlton in the FA Trophy. As most of the starting eleven were exhausted it was a completely new look Wrexham. Unfortunately the same old  “drab first half “ message was announced and the only positive to come from this was that reserve striker Marc Williams netted a tidy brace to send us through to the next round.

Our third home game in a row saw the visit of Gateshead who played eight defensive minded players and two up front.Consequently we were unable to break through this “brick wall” and the game ended as a bore draw.

We took to the road for our Boxing Day match which was a long ride to the north east to play Grimsby. After yet another forgettable 45 minutes a superb ball by Shane Williams pierced the defence and Cieslewicz slided the ball into and empty net. Moments later Frank Sinclair was sent off for a foul that gave away a penalty which thankfully was hit wide. We doubled our lead as again Cieslewicz crept into the box unnoticed for an easy tap in off a Knight-Percival cross and we seemed to be coping with ten men. Fatigue started to play a factor which Grimsby took full advantage of and pulled two back in the last 15 minutes to tie the game.

The final game of the year was in front of our home fans two days later and due to fatigue I had to put out a completely new starting eleven. Darlington took the lead inside 20 minutes playing some nice triangles that left The Red Dragons looking like statues. We responded aggressively but again wild shots and easy chances missed was the story of the day and Darlington doubled their lead twenty minutes from time when defender Darren Lough got caught in two minds. The introduction of Lyskov livened things up and he pulled one back late in the game but couldn’t inject his enthusiasm into the rest of the team.

Current League Table

So we lost our top spot to close out the year and as you can see there’s not much to choose from between the promotion candidates so I think this one will go to the wire come May.

January 2011 Fixtures

Just one final item to finish this report and that is the signing of Frenchman Francis Laurent on a free who was previously at Southend and whom I’m looking to bolster a weak right side of the field.

There’s no video again in this post due to the lack of excitement in front of goal.

Thanks for reading!!!