Wrexham: January 2013

Hello friends and welcome back to my continuing story with Welsh side Wrexham as we start the New Year after performing above expectations so far.

As the New Year began I was honored with the December Manager of the Month award which was very nice to receive.

also reset my expectations but did so cautiously raising them from “Avoid Relegation” to “Top Half Finish” which added another £6,000 to the salary budget so I may be able to get some out of contract player to enhance my weak right side of the field.

The first game of 2013 saw the visit of Norwich City who had jumped back into the promotion race and were currently occupying third place. As both teams had only played two days previous it was a very labored performance and unsurprisingly ended in a 0-0 draw as both teams struggled with fitness and a heavy playing surface.

The following game was our FA cup Third round encounter with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Predictably we didn’t offer any sort of challenge with only one shot compared to Arsenals twenty three. Once Chamakh (who ran riot over our defence) opened the scoring for the home side after 15 minutes they pretty much controlled the game until the final whistle. The lads gave a good effort considering what they were up against and hopefully this defeat will not affect our league form.

Soon after the game was over came the confirmation that MR Shawn Macdonald had agreed terms with us and hopefully this former Yeovil and Swansea player will help improve our vulnerable right flank.

After the defeat at the Emirates Stadium I was hoping the lads would pick themselves up with a bounce back win at Meadow Lane against Notts County. We got off to a great start with Scott Wotton’s header at goal deflecting of a County player to give us the lead inside 10 minutes. The second came shortly before half time with a great run by Kacanicklic down the left flank and his cross into the box was met first time by Baheng who powered the ball into the net. County rarely threatened our end of the field but did pull one back from a corner early in the second half but a Williams through ball to Baheng  minutes later was coolly placed home to put the game beyond any doubt and secure the three points.

We returned to home soil for the visit of Hartlepool and I sent out the same eleven that had beaten Notts County with the exception of Hammond in for Rooney. The visitors opened the scoring after poor communication in defence created a huge gap that was easily exploited with GK Hansen having little chance to stop the shot. Once again I had Banheng and Fofana up front and although it took a while they started to cause trouble in the final third with Baheng firing home the equalizer some 20 minutes later from a Hammond through ball. Fofana scored his 50^th goal for the club just before the half time whistle after some good play between Hammond and Baheng. Hammond who was injured in the build-up was replaced by Gilmour. Relentless pressure after the interval created the second goal of the game for Baheng with Williams as the supplier and from there on in we coasted home until the end of the game.

Next up was a trip to Stockport and although we played fairly well we conceded two unlucky goals with GK Hansen getting caught off his line for the first and LB Joe Bennett slipping up allowing enough space behind him for Stockport to manufacture their second. Baheng whacked in his 20^th goal of the season deep into injury time for a mere consolation goal.

The following game was the first leg of the JPT Northern Final away to Accrington where our new loan striker Danny West would be reunited with former Chelsea teammate Marko Mitorvic. Also starting this game was Francis Coquelin who had joined us on loan from Arsenal. After a less than interesting 30 minutes Danny West opened the scoring being first to react from a powerful effort by Mitrovic to make it 1-0 after 36 minutes. Additional chances were created but there was nothing gained and after the interval Accrington who had been reduced mostly to long shots looked far more dangerous and created the equalizer taking the ball unchallenged from the half way line to the back of the net. I was fuming! Ten minutes later McArdle who was having a great game floated in a free kick and West nodded it home for his second of the game. I immediately replaced him with Fofana who was itching to get on as he saw his place being take away by West and five minutes from time he scored with a low driving shot to give us a comfortable lead to take back to The Racecourse Ground for the second leg.

Here’s a look at our loan striker Danny West from Chelsea

After the exciting win over Accrington we returned home for our League encounter against Exeter. This turned out to be a difficult game with the visitors obviously looking for a draw when they lined up with virtually six across the back line. Consequently it was a frustrating afternoon but our perseverance paid off with a rare headed goal by Fofana late in the game supplied by Nzuzi from the right flank to give us a deserved victory.

We travelled to London for the final game of the month to face Millwall. Danny West put us ahead with a lovely turn and strike off an Nzuzi through ball but we struggled to take advantage of our first half lead. Millwall poured forward in the second half and 15 minutes of pressure paid off with an equalizer for them. It was all we could do to hold on for a draw and we finished with 10 men as Nathan Rooney picked up a late injury.

League Table

Fixtures

So as you’ve seen we have established a five point lead over MK Dons who we face this month so it’s important we don’t lose our grip on first place before that encounter. We also have the second leg of the JPT Northern Final and we’ll go into that game with a two goal advantage.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!