Wrexham 1

Steve Evans 79'

Macclesfield Town 1

Jamie Tolley 52'

Saturday 05 April 2008

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Wrexham
Starting XI:
01 Anthony Williams
28 Phil Bolland
05 Steve Evans
06 Richard Hope 69'
02 Simon Spender 72'
09 Neil Roberts
21 Marc Williams
08 Danny Williams 69'
25 Neil Taylor
39 Drewe Broughton
11 Chris Llewellyn
Substitutes:
10 Michael Proctor 69'
20 Matty Done
29 Sam Aiston 72'
33 Paul Hall
35 Stuart Nicholson 69'
Stats:
8 Shots on Goal
2 Shots on Target
6 Shots off Target
51% Possession
12 Fouls Conceded
7 Corners
1 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Macclesfield Town
Starting XI:
30 Jonny Brain
03 Richard Walker
04 Sean Hassey
05 Ryan Crewswell
34 Shaun Brisley
25 Terry Dunfield
11 Jamie Tolley
21 Neil Ashton
12 Danny Thomas 66'
08 Francis Green 90'
26 Gareth Evans 90'
Substitutes:
02 Richard Edghill
14 Michael Symes 90'
16 Izak Reid 66'
19 James Jennings 90'
29 Scott Spencer
Stats:
7 Shots on Goal
2 Shots on Target
5 Shots off Target
49% Possession
12 Fouls Conceded
2 Corners
2 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes
Venue: Racecourse Ground
Attendance: 3,993
Half Time: Wrexham 0 Macclesfield 0
Referee: Colin Webster

Match Incidents
34' Shaun Hessey (Macclesfield)
27' Danny Thomas (Macclesfield)
52' Jamie Tolley (Macclesfield)
79' Steve Evans (Wrexham)
82' Chris Llewellyn (Wrexham)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast

BBC: Wrexham 1-1 Macclesfield

Macclesfield Town FC: Wrexham 1 Macclesfield Town 1

TEAMtalk: Dragons and Silkmen share spoils

Wales on Sunday: Sorry Dragons close to abyss

Wrexham FC: Wrexham 1 Macclesfield Town 1

Wrexham MAD: Wrexham 1 Macclesfield Town 1

League Two Results
Accrington 1 Dag & Red 0 (Friday)
Lincoln City 1 MK Dons 2 (Friday)
Bradford 1 Morecambe 0
Bury 2 Notts County 1
Chesterfield 4 Shrewsbury 1
Hereford 2 Chester 2
Mansfield 2 Barnet 2
Rochdale 3 Grimsby 1
Rotherham 1 Brentford 2
Stockport 1 Darlington 0
Wrexham 1 Macclesfield 1
Wycombe 2 Peterborough 2

League Two Table
    PLD GD PTS
1 Peterborough 42 40 86
2 MK Dons 40 40 85
3 Hereford 40 24 75
4 Darlington 42 27 74
5 Stockport 40 17 72
6 Rochdale 40 17 68
7 Wycombe 41 12 68
8 Chesterfield 42 21 66
9 Brentford 42 -12 58
10 Bradford 41 3 57
11 Morecambe 41 -2 57
12 Grimsby 41 -3 55
13 Rotherham 42 0 52
14 Bury 42 -3 52
15 Barnet 40 -9 50
16 Lincoln City 42 -18 49
17 Accrington 42 -31 48
18 Macclesfield 42 -17 45
19 Shrewsbury 41 -10 44
20 Chester 41 -15 44
21 Dag & Red 42 -23 42
22 Notts County 41 -15 41
23 Mansfield 41 -18 38
24 Wrexham 40 -25 34

Next Five Games

Tue 08 Apr: MK Dons (a) 19:45

Sun 13 Apr: Shrewsbury (a) 12:00

Sat 19 Apr: Notts County (h) 15:00

Tue 22 Apr: Hereford (a) 19:45

Sa6 26 Apr: Accrington (h) 15:00

Match Report
A Steve Evans goal with eleven minutes left earned Wrexham a point after fellow strugglers Macclesfield opened the scoring in the second half through Jamie Tolley.

Although a point is better than none, Wrexham really needed three points today if we are going to avoid non-league football next season with the gap to safety reduced to seven points with six games left.

The game had plenty of goal mouth incidents but the fact that both teams could only manage four shots on target between them highlights the lack of quality at the bottom of League Two.

It was amazing that the game remained goalless at half time with both sides having enough clear cut chances to take the lead and Macclesfield only required seven minutes of the second half to open the scoring.

The goal came after Wrexham failed to deal with a free kick that was flicked on and Tolley was on hand to lash in the poor clearance from just inside of the area.

Macclesfield had chances to extend their lead but Evans equalised with just over ten minutes of the game left when he looped in a long throw from substitute Michael Proctor.

This should have sparked a last ten minute onslaught from Wrexham but even with five minutes on injury time, due to Macclesfield’s constant time wasting, we rarely threatened the visitor’s goal.

Brian Little said prior to the game that changes would be made to the starting line-up and this proved to be the case with only three of his signings making the starting line-up.

There were five changes to the starting line up with Steve Evans, Richard Hope, Neil Taylor, Danny Williams and Marc Williams returning to the first eleven in a 3-5-2 formation.

The one surprise was that Chris Llewellyn was up front with Drewe Broughton with Marc Williams playing as the attacking player in a midfield three.

Wrexham had an early chance to put Macclesfield under pressure but Simon Spender’s over hit free kick set the benchmark for the remainder of the game with the wing back in particular the main culprit after failing to make the most of the space he found down the visitor’s left.

The near 4,000 crowd had to wait until the fifteenth minute for the first shot on goal when Broughton turned on the edge of the area and flashed the ball wide of the near post.

Broughton had another chance moments later when Danny Williams found him in space but the on loan striker should have hit the target and Llewellyn also went close with Wrexham having the better of the early oppourtunities.

Macclesfield only had a shot from Francis Green that lacked any power to trouble Ward from the opening fifteen minutes but the Silkmen should have been awarded a penalty when Broughton had his hands all over Green as Wrexham defended a free kick.

Richard Hope then conceded a needless free kick for hand ball and the Wrexham defence were static as Richard Walker was left unmarked to head Tolley’s free kick wide of the near post.

This was a lucky escape for Wrexham and this sparked a nervous spell for the home side with Ward doing well to turn a shot from Gareth Evans around the post but Wrexham again got lucky when Shane Brisley should have done better than heading the resulting corner wide.

Wrexham managed to ride the Macclesfield storm and chances came at the other end towards the end of the first half.

A good challenge from Neil Roberts allowed Wrexham a two-on-one situation but Broughton should have played in Llewellyn down the right side of the instead of failing to hit the target with his shot.

Danny Williams then went close with a rasping free kick from twenty-five yards that forced Jonny Brain to tip over his bar for one of many corners towards the end of the half that we failed to make the most of, and the final chance came when Llewellyn fired into the side netting after cutting in from the right-wing.

There were no changes in personnel from either side at the start of the second half and there was no change from the last two games either, as Wrexham conceded within ten minutes of the restart for then third successive game.

It was a poor goal to concede from a routine free kick played straight into the Wrexham area from the half way line and after Macclesfield won the initial ball, Steve Evans had two attempts the clear the ball but only found Tully who fired the ball past Ward with a powerful shot.

Macclesfield should have scored a second three minutes later when Richard Hope was completely exposed by the pace of Green on the touch line and his inside pass presented Tully with a clear run on goal, but he somehow fired wide with the Wrexham defence all over the place.

Wrexham had chances to draw level on the hour mark when the ball dropped to Marc Williams in the box but his stabbed effort was saved and Broughton put another header wide from Spender’s cross.

There was more nervous moments in the Wrexham area after Ward dropped a routine catch and Wrexham took and age to clear the ball as it bounced around in front of goal.

The first changes of the game came with just over twenty minutes left with Richard Hope and Danny Williams replaced by Stuart Nicholson and Michael Proctor.

Wrexham were now playing 4-4-2 but it was rather surprising to see Nicholson favoured out on the left wing when Matty Done remained on the bench.

Chris Llewellyn now dropped back to midfield but within three minutes he found himself at right back after Simon Spender was stretched off to be replaced by Sam Aiston.

Aiston made an initial impact with his ability of running with the ball putting Macclesfield on the back foot and within six minutes of his arrival, Wrexham were back on level terms.

Substitute Michael Proctor delivered a long throw from the left that Steve Evans managed to loop into the top corner for twelve yards out and it really should have been game on with eleven minutes left.

It should have been, but it wasn’t and Chris Llewellyn was lucky to stay on the pitch for a bad foul on the halfway line on Reid but the referee played a good advantage, only for Llewellyn to lunge in on Reid on the edge of the area and was lucky to escape with a booking.

The only chance we created came after Broughton won a free kick but Brain turned Bolland’s header around the post and despite all the effort, Wrexham never put any sustained pressure on the Macclesfield goal and never looked likely making a second breakthrough.

Match Reaction
Brian Little: "I think that in lots of recent games the commitment has been great but the quality has been average in most cases. It was the final ball that let us down a lot of the time. I think that Macclesfield had a system but once young Marc (Williams) played behind their front two and pulled their left full-back out of position there was a massive gap which allowed 'Spends' to get in some great positions but the delivery was poor. It was from Simon today but on other days it has been other people. They had two free-kicks and put them into wonderfully dangerous areas. If we didn't practice set-pieces then I would say fine but we spend quite a bit of time dropping set piece balls into areas and in fairness through the week we are not bad at it. Coming into the game we've got loads of quantity but we're lacking in quality. When I say quantity I mean work rate, commitment, effort, but we make loads of mistakes and that is where the quality comes in. It is costing us every week, week in and week out, and it was another poor goal to concede. We felt that if we defended today and kept them out, then we might get a goal. We've gone to sleep on a set piece, they've had a free shot and then we have to change again." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here for more]

Keith Alexander: "That was an important point for us this afternoon. I was delighted with the performance, certainly in the second half when we created three or four good chances to score. But it was disappointing to concede from a set piece as we work hard on that in training. However I would have taken a point before the game so can't complain. We battled hard which is something we have had to work on and it's pleasing that we aren't conceding as many goals as we were before I arrived at the club. Defenders have got to defend and to be fair to the lads they are doing that. We came out strong in the second half and I suppose we have to be disappointed that we only scored just the one goal. If we had got a second the game would have been dead and buried. But we are a point closer to where we want to be. Apart from a few balls lumped into our box I don't think they put or under any real pressure. I haven't seen all the results yet but we'll just keep on going as we are. We want to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season and then it doesn't matter what happens elsewhere." [Source: Macclesfield Town FC - click here for more]