Wrexham’s opening day draw with Solihull Moors in front of over 1,000 away supporters will hold significance in the career of veteran debutant David Jones
Wrexham player-coach Jones may well have ended the hunt for the goal of the season after just 28 minutes on the opening day, but it’s a bittersweet moment following a late Moors goal.
The 36-year old midfielder found himself 30-yards from goal as the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box before hitting a strike worthy of winning any game, but it wasn’t to be.
But the new arrival won’t let late disappointment shy away from the positives on display.
“It is disappointing to come so close to victory on the first day” said Jones.
“It’s hard to take as a team but we worked our socks off today - but we know we can play a lot better, there’s a lot of positives to take from this afternoon.”
“It’s special, it’s a great moment that you take 20, 30 seconds to celebrate and then the minds back on the job.”
Joe Sbarra gave Solihull an initial lead before Paul Mullin stepped up to convert a penalty, two minutes later, Jones rifled the ball into the back of the net to turn the game on it’s head.
“It’s one of those as a midfielder you just get the knock down which fell perfectly to me and I just struck it and got a good contact on it, when you hit it well you know it’s got a good chance of going in.
“For me and the team it puts us 2-1 ahead so it was important at the time.
“It’s special, it’s a great moment that you take 20, 30 seconds to celebrate and then the minds back on the job.”
Jones - who’s previous clubs include Manchester United, Wolves, Burnley and Derby County - made his first appearance since January 2020, when playing for Oldham Athletic, but he marked his return with a bang after 20 months out of the game.
“It’s nice personally for me being out of the game for a period of time but to come back today I would have swapped it to get a victory but it wasn’t to be.
“There’s a lot to learn from, and some positives for sure.”