In a thrilling six-goal tie, to open the EFL Cup first round with a Wrexham victory, the Red Dragons defeated Hull City on penalties after a 3-3 draw in normal play.
One man stood out as a late difference-maker. Widely adored by the Wrexham fan base, and a huge feature in the Welsh side’s rise from the National League, Ollie Palmer scored two late goals to draw his outfit level.
Documented Doom to Defiant Comeback
Notably, throughout the League One-focused season of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, Palmer had growing but understandable frustrations surrounding his diminished play time during a third tier promotion campaign. But, three goals last season undoubtedly contributed to a second-placed finish for Wrexham.
The 33-year-old entered the pitch last night on the 69th-minute mark and scored two headed goals to drag his side back to even terms. In the 91st and 92nd minutes, Palmer scored from assists gifted by both wing-backs in the Wrexham lineup.
Wrexham took the lead early on with an Elliot Lee strike nestling close to the top-left corner. Oli McBurnie equalised just five minutes later, with the Tigers then providing two goals from the 70th minute to the 81st. As aforementioned, Palmer scored twice to cancel out Joel Ndala and Matt Crooks’ efforts. In a 5-3 penalty shoot-out victory for Phil Parkinson’s side, the 33-year-old scored the fourth for the home team and subsequently won them the match.
‘Feeling Emotional’ – Palmer
The club’s media team asked the striker how he felt after such an important turnaround, spearheaded by himself:
“Yeah, emotional. To be completely honest. Felt a little bit emotional after the game, like you said the penalties were great. Five clinical penalties, dissapointing to go 3-1 down so quickly. In the grand scheme of things, they only made two or three chances from their game at the weekend.
“We made eleven changes and a fresh eleven, so, I think overall it was a really pleasing performance.”
Writer’s View
As demonstrated in this performance and in Wrexham’s documentary, mental resilience as well as physical is such a huge part of life as a footballer. With Palmer’s lesser involvement last campaign, this is a massive achievement at such a high level – against Championship opposition.
If anything, this proves that as an impact sub, the 33-year-old still has a huge role to play in Wrexham’s near future, with the Red Dragons making a promising start in both entered competitions, despite losing 2-1 at the death to Southampton on Saturday.
