Wrexham:September 2012

Hello friends and welcome back to my latest football manager story update as Wrexham continue their journey in League One.

Our first game of the new month was at home to Stockport and I was shocked to see that 13 of the first team squad were away on international duty leaving some of the positions very difficult to fill. I had no goalkeeper’s available so 16 year old Ritchie Jones was thrown in between the sticks. Of my strikers Fofana was the only regular and he got us off to a great start latching on to a cross by left back Alex Billington after 12 minutes. Fofana’s delightful through ball to striker Nwaogu (up from the reserves) would double our lead on the stroke of half time and so things were looking good. However, this was a game of two halves, the second belonging to Stockport who bravely fought back, won tackles and created goals to get themselves a draw.

I was happy that all the players arrived back uninjured for our trip down the M5 to play Exeter. The home side took the lead following a slip up by Joe Bennett that allowed a cross ball into the box for an easy tap in for Exeter to take the lead. A wonder-strike free kick from Lee McArdle leveled the score early in the second half but in the end it was a very even contest and the 1-1 draw was the right result.

The following game was our JPT First round tie at home to Tranmere which proved to be a very uneventful game with the only goal coming from the penalty spot after Rooney’s corner created an infringement in the box and Hammond coolly slotted home.

Next up was a trip to Oldham and apart from the home side going down to ten men just before half time all the action was in the last few minutes when Nicholas headed us into the lead from a set piece. We were so busy celebrating what appeared to be a late winner that we forgot to defend and Oldham immediately equalized from the kick off and I was annoyed that we gave away two valuable points.

We stayed away from home with a trip to Hartlepool and we really needed a win. Brian Gilmour commanded the midfield setting up numerous chances with two efforts from Alex Smith both hitting the bar and a shot by Nzuzi going narrowly wide but by the interval the game was scoreless. Gilmour carried on where he left off this time finding loanee striker Chinedu Vine whose quick ball into to box was hit home by Fofana. A very similar move created a second goal for Fofana to come away from Victoria Park with a well needed three points.

We ended the month with a home game against Sheffield Wednesday who were struggling at the foot of the table. Unfortunately Fofana who played his guts out in the last game was exhausted and Vine was travelling for international duty so my front pair was changed yet again. It was Wednesday though who did all the attacking looking anything like a relegation zone team but we thwarted their chances and eventually put together a move that caused a defensive error allowing Baheng to strike his first goal of the season. Gilmour was removed at half time but his replacement Williams set up Baheng for is second four minutes after the interval and the French striker completed his hat-trick when we caught our opponents on the break from a cleared corner with front man Mitrovic being the supplier. It was a great way to end what had been an indifferent month.

League Table

We had dropped to third place by the end of the month but in fact had been as low as 11th so I was happy to see that we had climbed back up and in a good position.

Fixtures

As I  mention my Captain Brian Gilmour a lot I’ve added his profile below. His attributes are just sort of average but he always seems to know where to place the ball to create chances. A good solid performer.

That’s it for this month so thanks for reading and have a great day!