Burnley Reserves 0
Wrexham Reserves 2
Central League (West Division)

Match Report

The Reserves made it six wins in seven outings and lifted themselves to fifth in the table win this hard fought victory over Burnley at Accrington. But there was some disappointment during the evening when Mark Jones trudged to the sidelines after just 16 minutes and was replaced by Kai Edwards, with the Wales U19 international taking over in central defence from Conall Murtagh, with the Irishman switching back to his more recognised midfield role.

The Reds took the lead on the half hour, when Josh Johnson beat his man to the line on the right and pulled his cross back into the box for Alex Darlington to fire home from six-yards when standing unmarked in front of the goal. Seconds later Mike Carvill tried his luck from distance and forced Hungarian international keeper Gabor Kiraly into a save under his crossbar. Darlington undid the home defence again on 41 minutes before setting up Murtagh for a shot from 18-yards, but the Irishman didn't quite get the connection he had hoped for and Kiraly was able to make a comfortable save

An early second half attack by the home side saw Dil Chagger cross from the right but Anthony Williams was quickly off his line to punch clear down the park. In the 49th minute there was a bizarre moment when Darlington broke clear from the half way line and pushed the ball wide of the advancing keeper but, outside the box, was dragged down by Kiraly. The referee awarded a free kick but only issued the keeper with a yellow card as one of his defenders was covering back on the goal line.

The Reds were keeping the pressure up on the Burnley defence and enjoyed a series of corners with Kiraly eventually ending the pressure with a catch underneath his crossbar. But Alex Darlington grabbed his second of the night with a calm finish to fire across Kiraly and into the far corner of the net on 78 minutes, after being set up by Fleming.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, with Burnley enjoying a fair degree of possession, but the Wrexham defence were coping with the best that the Clarets could throw at them. Robbie Garrett at right back and Kai Edwards in the centre both enjoyed good games to compliment the ever steady Shaun Pejic and Chris Marriott in the back four. This was a fine performance against a decent Burnley side, and it keeps Joey’s side moving nicely up the league table.