Wrexham: February 2013

Hello friends and welcome back to My Football Manager story.

The last month of winter….well almost, started off with the visit of Oldham to the Racecourse Ground. A decent crowd of over 7,500 saw us get off to a great start as Moses Barnett headed in the opening goal from a corner inside 5 minutes. Persistence led to the second goal with some fancy footwork by Fofana who teed up Danny West for yet another goal by the 17 year old. Oldham though would get back into the game just before half time with a well worked play that ended with a shot inside the box. That goal lifted their spirits and they came out with a more attacking nature in the second half but from a blocked free kick we caught them on the counter attack with Fofana and West working tandem which saw Fofana slide the ball wide of the keeper to make it 3-1. Six minutes later Barnett headed in his second of the game to put the match beyond Oldham’s reach securing another three points and one of his best performances of the season.

The following game was a trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday. A typical Shane Williams through ball into the box found Fofana who struck it into the roof of the net to put us in front early on. Wednesday’s reply didn’t take long though as my defenders backed off just a little too much allowing space and a clean shot on goal for the equalizer. A scintillating run by Fofana down the left flank ended in a rare goal for skipper Brian Gilmour who ran into to box to meet Fofana’s cross for a side footed effort into the back of the net. We held onto the lead until half time and after the break the home side put us under relentless pressure hitting the woodwork three times and were unlucky not to score but in the end we came out as more than fortunate winners.

Left Back Joe Bennett picked up an injury that will see him out for at least two months so I made an immediate move for West Hams Danny Potts who accepted a three month loan contract.

It was time for the second leg of the JPT Northern Final and a good crowd of just over 10,000 showed up for the game and were not to be disappointed. With a two goal advantage and a huge game coming up against MK Dons it was a completely different starting eleven that faced Accrington. Wesley Baheng put us in front after 15 minutes which carried us through to half time after which Marko Mitrovic added a second not long after the interval. A headed in corner by Nicholas  made the score 6-1 on aggregate but Accrington did muster a late consolation goal but in the end we came out worthy winners and the home fans went ecstatic at the thought of a trip to Wembley to face Bournemouth in the JPT Final come April.

The following game was our top of the table clash against MK Dons at the Racecourse Ground. I put out my strongest possible team for this encounter which paid off early on when Moses Barnett whose been a revelation since moving to the central defender spot headed in a Fofana free kick for a goal inside 10 minutes. MK Dons came up with an equalizer created down the right wing which finished off with a volley into the back of our net. Danny West re-established the lead for us in the 32^ndminute being the first to react to a rebounded shot from Nzuzi and didn’t need to be told twice what to do with the ball. The second period was a midfield battle but in the closing 10 minutes the visitors pushed for an equalizer but we defended resolutely and eventually broke free on the counter attack with Conor Henderson playing  a difficult ball into the box from the left side that forced an own goal deep into injury time to cement the victory.

The final game of the month was away to Northampton and although they were in the lower half of the table I knew we couldn’t take them lightly as they’d recently beaten MK Dons by a score of 4 to 1. My assumptions proved correct with the home side being the dominant force and kept us at bay for most of the game though we restricted them to shots from distance. Predictably then the game played out to a scoreless  draw which I was happy about.

League Table

Fixtures

As the month drew to a close I received my first job offer from fellow League One side Barnsley. The offer was tempting with a £3,000,000 transfer budget compared to my £0.00 as well as the team having an outside chance of the play offs. I politely refused the offer.

If we can take advantage of those three cosecutive home games coming up we may now have a real shot at promotion.

Thanks for reading everyone.