Slow Start
Wrexham has had a slow start to the season, gaining just a point from their opening two games. They will see this as a learning curve, but one that will have to find the crest sooner rather than later.
They perhaps couldn’t have asked for a tougher start when, although at home, they faced relegated side MK Dons. The Red Dragons ended up being on the wrong end of a 5-3 score on the day, a rude awakening in League Two. The gap was a lot larger than they anticipated and the party that they had hoped to continue from the joyous celebrations at the end of the 2022/23 campaign was instead gate-crashed and left a very sobering reality that it will be anything but a breeze that many pundits had foreseen for them this year.
A goalless draw, with a penalty shootout win, against Wigan Athletic in midweek saw a passage to the second round of the Carabao Cup. This went someway to recover from the opening day, but the League is everyone’s bread and butter at this stage of the season, and the heavy weight they were carrying took them to their first away trip and into London.
Tale Of Two Penalties
The match against AFC Wimbledon, who themselves see their own story as one of triumph over the last two decades or so, was a keenly fought contest. In truth it was one that could’ve gone either way, as two penalties, one saved by Ben Foster, the other flew high into the net past him, was the tipping point. The Red Dragons were ahead midway through the first half when the non-stop running of Jacob Mendy paid off when his cutback was latched on to by Elliott Lee. His shot was deflected to spin over the line and past Alex Bass in the Wimbledon goal.
While the penalties did eventually even things up, Wrexham had enough on the bench to change things and take the sting out of the game, and also attempt to win it late on. Luke Young, one of three late changes, struck a tremendous effort in the 95th minute that Bass was equal to.
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson was far from convinced about the two spot-kicks awarded against his side. Referee Darren Drysdale didn’t hesitate to award the penalties either, which shocked the Wrexham boss.
He told The Leader: “I have looked at the two penalty instances and oh my goodness me. We have come up a level thinking the referee’s been around a bit, he’ll be decent. The first one, if there’s a slight tug of a shirt it is minimal. And the second is so soft, it is unbelievable that he has given that.”
Points Needed
Next up is Walsall at home, who sit in the top ten after gaining their first win on Saturday, a 2-1 home win against another highly rated side in Stockport County. The firepower of Paul Mullin is clearly being missed in the Wrexham ranks, his return after a pre-season injury while on tour in the USA can’t come quick enough.
Parkinson had left some bewildered with his post-match comments about the Dons “keeping the grass long” but in general he was pleased with the efforts of his team.
Wrexham’s manager, when speaking to the Red Dragons website, said: “It was a hard-earned point. They are a very direct physical team and we had to contend with a lot of balls into the box, first balls, and second balls and I thought in the main we dealt with that well. We would’ve liked to have shown more quality ourselves but when we did, we looked dangerous.”
With the Hollywood owners looking on from afar, they will want to see a win very soon or Parkinson might start feeling some pressure. It’s a very different kind than the pressure experienced last year when, although Wrexham were involved in an extremely tight title race, it was one that they were ultimately expected to win. Should they drop more points in the coming week, the slow start could be one that comes back to haunt them.
