Scunthorpe United v Wrexham

Saturday, December 2, 2006

English FA Cup

Scunthorpe United :
Murphy, Byrne, Crosby, Foster, Hinds (Williams 72), Taylor, Sparrow, Baraclough, Morris (Torpey 67), Sharp, Keogh
Subs not used:
Lillis, Mulligan, Goodwin

Wrexham :
Ingham, Roche, Pejic, Steve Evans, Mike Williams, Mark Jones, Danny Williams, Ferguson, Johnson (Ugarte 89), Llewellyn, Kevin Smith (McEvilly 77)
Subs not used:
Michael Jones, Valentine, Crowell

SULSESC REPORT

by Andy Skeels at Glanford Park

OH dear! But I guess it was all just a little predictable…

Team going great guns at the top of League One versus team struggling at wrong end of League Two without an away win since August. It should have been a banker home win, but this is Scunthorpe United we’re talking about. With Wrexham setting their stall out to defend from the start, United struggled to find their usual rhythm and it was no surprise when the teams went in for the half-time break with the scoreboard operator untroubled.

Although Nigel Adkins’ men had been on top, they had rarely threatened to find a breakthrough and we were left to hope for better fortune in the second period – otherwise, another unappealing and unwanted Tuesday night visit to North Wales would be on the horizon.

However, things quickly went from bad to worse. Three minutes into the second-half, Joe Murphy had a real abberation and, in attempting to launch the Iron on a quick counter-attack, saw his underarm throw roll straight to Wrexham midfielder Mark Jones, who fired a terrific shot from 25 yards straight into the bottom corner.

Suddenly, Wrexham, who clearly would have been happy with a 0-0 draw and a replay, had a one-goal advantage to defend.

An upset looked on the cards and just over quarter of an hour later, it was a certainty as Wrexham doubled their lead from their only corner of the match.

A header from Andy Keogh was scrubbed off for offside with less than 10 minutes to go but even had the goal stood, it’s doubtful whether we’d have managed an equaliser.

Wrexham saw out the closing stages with little difficulty as the Iron seemed resigned to their fate and, to be fair, we could have no complaints about the outcome.

We’ve had our fair share of big third round games in recent years so we can’t be too greedy. And this may just turn out to be a blessing in disguise. No more cup games to get in the way now… so let’s concentrate on promotion!