Wrexham Reserves 2
Chester City Reserves 1
Central League (West Division)

Match Report

A strong and experienced Wrexham side, including four of the players that featured in the dismal 3-0 League defeat at Shrewsbury Town the previous Sunday, overcame a spirited Chester City side to notch a fourth successive victory. The win also lifted the Dragons into second place in the table and, whilst catching Morecambe at the top of the table was impossible, it did open up the chance of making the end-of-season play-offs with a second-placed finish.

Wrexham dominated the opening period and should have had more than the two goals to show for their superiority. But the second half wasn’t so one sided and the Dragons were left holding on a little at the end.
The first chance came in the fourth minute when Michael Proctor’s clever through ball put Josh Johnson away but the Trinidadian’s left foot shot drifted just wide. Alex Darlington, fresh from three goals in his two previous outings, then brought a fine save from keeper Phil Palethorpe with a snap shot from 16 yards out, and Proctor saw a hooked shot over his shoulder drop just wide of the post.

Anthony Williams dived smartly to his right to save a Gio Feliciello free kick on 22 minutes but generally it was the Dragons that held the upper hand and they took the lead in the 24th minute. Mark Jones’ foray forward was abruptly ended by a foul and up stepped Silvio Spann to beat Palethorpe with a 25-yard free kick that curled over the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. Another well executed move three minutes later saw Proctor lay the ball off invitingly to Mark Jones whose left foot strike from about 20 yards had Palethorpe diving to his left to save well.

On 32 minutes the Dragons doubled their advantage when Chris Llewellyn flicked the ball through from the halfway line and Michael Proctor ran through and coolly lifted the ball over the advancing Palethorpe from the edge of the penalty area. Proctor then forced another smart save from Palethorpe after good work down the left hand side by Johnson but the half ended with the Dragons holding a comfortable-looking two-goal advantage.

The second half began with Wrexham again in the ascendancy, Spann lifting the ball over the keeper but also over the bar on 50 minutes after some good build-up play down the left. Anthony Williams made a fine diving save to keep out a Lloyd Ellams effort but he was beaten on 53 minutes when Paul Smith latched onto a good header away under pressure by Chris Marriott to fire an unstoppable right foot volley into the net from 22 yards out.

Proctor forced a save from Palethorpe and Darlington shot over the bar as the Dragons looked to reassert their control on the game. Proctor had a goal waved out for offside in the 72nd minute when he turned a Richard Hope header over the line from close range, and a Hope header from a Spann free kick was well saved by Palethorpe. The game-clinching third goal never came though and Chester finished the game strongly and Ryan Williams saw a great chance blocked in the dying seconds. But the Dragons held on!

“A win is a win but I’ve got to be honest I thought Chester were the better team in the second half,” Joey Jones told the Evening Leader after the game. It was one-way traffic first half and the only problems we had was if we got sloppy ourselves, and we did twice. For the players we had out there I was disappointed with the way we played second half. We made to many mistakes and gave the ball away far too cheaply. All credit to Chester, they are young, willing lads who ran their socks off.

“It’s a win for us but you have to look for other things as well. With the players we had, we should have done better. It should have been more comfortable but I can’t play the game for them.”