A waterlogged pitch foiled Wrexham's attempts to earn a second away win of the season. Goals from Jake Hyde and Paul Mullin put us ahead at the break, but it would prove to be a costly and pointless afternoon, as both Luke Young and Ben Tozer suffered injuries and had to go off.
Phil Parkinson made three changes after last Saturday's defeat at Stockport, with Bryce Hosanah coming in for his Wrexham debut ahead in place of Tyler French, and Jordan Davies and Jake Hyde returning from injury to displace Liam McAlinden and Jordan Ponticelli.
In wet and windy conditions, and urged on by superb away support, Wrexham sparked to life in the fourth minute when a terrific tackle by Luke Young sent Paul Mullin away to run at the last defender. His charge was halted by a body check from Kodi Lyons-Foster, and the referee, Sunny Gill, correctly judged the challenge to have happened too far from goal to warrant anything more than a yellow card.
The resulting free kick was lashed in by Davies, and nearly swerved past Walker, who had to save smartly with his feet. However, these opening skirmishes were destined to have significant repercussions as Young was eventually forced to limp off as a result of the injury he sustained making the initial challenge. After two lengthy spells of treatment, the skipper was replaced by Devonte Redmond.
Within moments of the substitution Aldershot carved out their first chance of the match, as Alfie Whittingham got the ball back from his throw-in and hit a shot across goal from a tight angle.
Wrexham soon got back onto the front foot though, with Hosanah marauding down the right at will. He beat two men with a run which ended in a driven cross which was desperately cleared at the far post, and soon afterwards the Shots changed their personnel around, switching Toby Edser to the left to keep an eye on the wing back.
The next threat came from the flank Edser had vacated though, as a big diagonal found its way to Jamie Reckord, whose cross found Mullin six yards out. The ball arrived at an awkward angle though, and the striker’s acrobatic effort was blocked.
A couple of minutes later, Wrexham were ahead. A long ball into the box was nodded down neatly by Davies and Hyde made no mistake with a tidy half-volleyed finish.
It could have been 2-0 a minute later, as Hosanah burst forwards again and crossed into the box. The ball was only cleared to the edge of the area, where James Jones unleashed a fierce shot which Mitch Walker parried away. The consequent corner found Aaron Hayden six yards out but he placed his header just wide.
A terrific pass from Redmond then opened up the home defence, and when Mullin pulled the ball back from the right, Hyde shot on the turn from six yards was blocked. Soon afterwards Mullin threatened from a similar position, slamming in a powerful shot from a tight angle which Walker managed to tip wide.
The Shots’ best chance of the half came when Mo Bettamer chased down a long ball and drove in a shot which Rob Lainton did well to push away from danger, before Wrexham suffered their second injury blow.
A heavy challenge in the penalty area left Ben Tozer in pain and, after a long spell of treatment, he had to leave the pitch on a stretcher with Tyler French coming on in his place.
The rest of the half, including seven minutes of added time, looked to be petering out soggily until a Davies free kick was attacked by Hyde, who was kicked in the head by a defender. The referee awarded a penalty and, after a delay for the treatment of Hyde, Mullin smashed it home.
Referee Sunny Gill, concerned at the state of the sodden pitch, inspected it at half time and decided the game could resume. However, it was immediately obvious that the ball was not rolling naturally, and in the 52nd minute he was forced to suspend play.
Efforts were made to improve the state of the pitch, as the crowd witnessed the remarkable sight of Wrexham players clearing surface water off the pitch with brooms and stamping on towels in an attempt to at least absorb some liquid, while the rain continued to come down.
It proved to be a futile effort though, as when Gill emerged to test the conditions he immediately found that the ball was not bouncing at all, and sadly he had no option but to announce the abandonment of the match.
ALDERSHOT TOWN: Walker, Kinsella, Lyons-Foster, Phillips, Harris (Vennings 46), Whittingham, Berkeley-Agyepong (Willard 35), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Edser, Andrews, Bettamer. UNUSED SUBS: Coulter, Fowler, Aouachria.
WREXHAM: Lainton, Hayden, Tozer (French 40), Lennon, Hosanah, Young (Redmond 8), Jones, Davies, Reckord, Hyde, Mullin. UNUSED SUBS: Dibble, French, McAlinden, Angus.
YELLOW CARDS:
Aldershot - Foster-Lyons, Harris
Wrexham - Hosannah
RED CARDS:
Aldershot - None
Wrexham - None
Referee: Sunny Gill