Wrexham v Swansea

K

keith margam

Vital Football Legend
Wrexham v Swansea Fri 13 March 20:00

It’s Friday the 13th for this clash, unlucky for some, will it be Wrexham or Swansea?

Swans at a disadvantage already with little preparation time. The team arriving back in Swansea in the early hours of Wednesday morning weary, will then have to regroup and travel to Wrexham on Thursday for Friday’s match thanks to Sky moving the game from Saturday for live coverage.

VM tried to spread the load between the squad by using all five subs allowed for the Portsmouth game. It nearly backfired, with the Swans just about hanging on to the lead at the end after they dominated the first-half.

Wrexham meanwhile lost at home to play-off rivals Hull. Ironically it was a Welsh International Lewis Koumas (on loan from Liverpool) who got the winner.

Joe Gelhardt (on loan from Leeds) with a spectacular free-kick had opened the scoring for Hull and then minutes later missed a penalty. Another Welsh International Nathan Broadhead pulled one back late on but couldn’t find the equaliser.

Wrexham looked jaded after their extra-time defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup last Saturday but now have three clear days before playing us.

Swansea, knowing their away form has been letting them down, will be boosted by the Portsmouth win and will be seeking the double over Wrexham.

A tough ask but not impossible if only they could reproduce that Portsmouth first-half form, where they scored two goals and could have scored more.
 
Talking of Hull.
Just suppose we’d had Hull’s away form coupled with our home form over the last 10 home and 10 away games we would have got 51 points from a possible 60.

On 25/11/25 we were fourth from bottom PL17 W4 D5 L8 on 17 points.

Next 20 games, ten home, ten away +51 points = 68 points and today we would have been sitting in third place, a point off second place and automatic promotion, despite our disastrous run under Alan Sheehan.

Something to aim for next season if only we can keep our team together and add a few.
 
Given our poor away form and after another away win for Hull on Tuesday night at our next opponents Wrexham, it would be interesting to know how they did it and the key to their away form.

Hull are top of the away form table with eight wins and a draw from their last ten away games, conceding only seven goals whilst scoring seventeen goals.

Hull’s recent outstanding away form is the perfecting of a highly efficient counter-attacking approach that maximises limited chances.

A solid defence due to their tactical discipline away from home, allowing them to absorb pressure and hit opponents on the break.

The return of crucial players from injury such as Semi Ajayi, Toby Collyer, Eliot Matazo and Mo Belloumi has boosted their attacking threat, not forgetting ex-Swans Ollie McBurnie and Kyle Joseph.

Swans v Hull last September was a 2-2 draw, Hull equalising with the last kick of the game in the 97th minute.
 
Leading scorer Kieffer Moore on 13 goals, missed the Wrexham v Hull match on Tuesday night with a small tendon split and will miss several matches.

One less threat to deal with then, although we wish him well. Unfortunately he may also miss the Wales World Cup play-off qualifiers coming up.

They have a more than capable replacement in Sam Smith, who will now lead the line. He’s on 8 goals, 6 of those scored since the turn of the year.
 
Tonight’s teams.

Stamenic for Fulton, Nunes for Eom, Samuels-Smith on the bench after injury.

Swans: Lawrence Vigouroux, Josh Key, Ben Cabango (c), Cameron Burgess, Josh Tymon, Marko Stamenic, Goncalo Franco, Ethan Galbraith, Ronald, Gustavo Nunes, Zan Vipotnik

Subs: Andy Fisher. Jay Fulton, Melker Widell, Malick Yalcouye, Jisung Eom, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Liam Cullen, Leo Walta, Joel Ward

Wrexham: Arthur Okonkwo, Callum Doyle, Max Cleworth, Dominic Hyam (c), Issa Kabore, George Thomason, Ollie Rathbone, Zak Vyner, Lewis O'Brien, Sam Smith, Nathan Broadhead

Subs: Danny Ward, Lewis Brunt, Davis Keillor-Dunn, Josh Windass, Bailey Cadamarteri, Jay Rodriguez, Dan Scarr, Ryan Barnett, Ryan Longman
 
24’ 1-0 Broadhead beats Burgess and Vigouroux for an easy goal, more poor defending
Dominating ppossession so far but final ball poor for Swansea.
Vipotnik had a really good chance earlier but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
36’ same domination continues but no end product, Wrexham relying on breakaways to good effect. Kabore has the beating of Tymon each time.
43’ Vipotnik heads wide from Ronald cross.
44’ Kabore beats Tymon again and shoots wide.
46’ Doyle free header from a corner back across the box, but just over Smiths head.
Wrexham six shots, one shot on target, one goal.
Swans 64% possession, six shots, two on target, no goals.
HT: 1-0
 
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48’ Broadhead shoots wide, Key not close enough to him.
49’ Franco flattened in the box by Hyam, waved away by ref.
55’ Rathbone shot saved in a breakaway.
Swans no quality in final third says commentator, hard to disagree.
56’ Ronald, Nunes, Franco off. Eom, Cullen, Yalcouye on.
Both Nunes and Ronald were poor.
62’ Yalcouye booked already for a block on O’Brien.
65’ Stamenic shot saved.
65’ Yalcouye shoots wide.
73’ Stamenic off, Widell on.
77’ Tymon booked, hand ball.
77’ Tymon off, Walta on.
81’ Yalcouye shoots wide after a goalmouth scramble.

We look poor now and incapable of scoring if we played all night.

85’ Cullen free kick straight to the goalkeeper, feeble.

87’ 2-0 Doyle header from free kick, deflected by Cullen past Vigouroux.

FT: 2-0
Hopeless tonight, systems back to normal.
How not to win a football match - dominate possession, pass the ball to death and what little chances created, squandered.
Such a hard watch.
Typical Swansea team raise up your hopes then let you down with a poor display, always flatter to deceive.
So much at stake tonight and they blew it.
Zero shots on target second half. The substitutions weakened us.
Another team that beat us convincingly with only a third of possession.
 
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A poor outing in the end for us, this. We started strongly but it soon fizzled out and we could never get going again in the 2nd half. Looked like Wrexham would comfortably defend their 1-0 lead but added a late to add insult to injury. Very slim play-off dream is now most definitely over.
 
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