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Feature

REVIEW | Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Wrexham AFC

A fun day out in Cheshire

22 April 2024

Feature

REVIEW | Crewe Alexandra 0-3 Wrexham AFC

A fun day out in Cheshire

22 April 2024

With promotion to Sky Bet League One already wrapped up, Wrexham continued their fine form to breeze past a stumbling Crewe side 3-0 at the Mornflake Stadium.

This game was far from a dead rubber, as Crewe needed a point to confirm their place in this year's Sky Bet League Two play-offs.

Their performance didn't quite illustrate this though.

After taking 20 minutes to settle into the game, Wrexham found the opener through an unorthodox Ollie Palmer header.

Scoring his first goal of the year, Palmer dived in front of Paul Mullin's bouncing cross to head the ball under the peril of Zac Williams' incoming boot.

With the ball somehow looping into the far corner past a rooted Max Stryjek, Wrexham claimed the lead.

A deserved goal for Palmer's performances of late, as the striker won seven aerial duels throughout his 66 minutes on the pitch. An assist would soon come for the number 10 too...

An altercation between James McClean and Aaron Rowe left Wrexham with a free-kick inside their own half. Tom O'Connor's lofted set-piece met the head of Palmer, who flicked the ball on easily under poor contest from Crewe captain Mickey Demetriou.

In a similar vein to his famous FA Trophy goals, Mullin chipped the ball over Stryjek to double Wrexham's lead on the stroke of half-time.

There was quite the contrast of noise coming from the stadium, with Reds in the away end going delirious with joy and Reds in the home section going delirious with anger.

For the small fight that Crewe were putting up at this point, it was rendered useless under the prowess of Eoghan O'Connell in the middle of the three centre backs.

The moment that highlighted his performance best was when he shepherded Elliott Nevitt wide in the Wrexham box, when the forward appeared to be running directly in on goal. With the angle narrowed, only a tame shot straight at Arthur Okonkwo could be mustered.

The Railywaymen's comeback was truly derailed when Ryan Cooney was sent off for a handball on the halfway line, denying Mullin of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

The defender's visible disbelief at the decision went on for some time before he left the pitch, claiming that Mullin had pushed him into handling the ball.

In hindsight, the reaction after misjudging the ball's bounce shouldn't have been to try and catch it with one hand, under minimal contact from Mullin.

A man down and already running low on options, this was to be the end of any chance of a home comeback.

To add to their misery, Andy Cannon added a third in the 61st minute.

Elliot Lee couldn't believe his luck being able to thread a ball into a gaping wide space on the edge of the Crewe box. Demetriou failed to intercept the ball whilst sliding, meaning it was up to Williams to hold off Cannon. However, the defender stumbled amidst Cannon's quick feet, leaving the number 20 with acres of time to roll the ball teasingly past Stryjek.

With the 1,694 Wrexham fans thoroughly enjoying their afternoon in the Ice Cream Van Stand, the olés started to ring out in the 65th minute, as the Red Dragons passed the ball with ease. 

The full-time celebrations signalled everyone's fine spirit; reminiscent of the post-match scenes at Torquay United last year when Wrexham's promotion back to the EFL was already confirmed.

The final game of the season lies ahead, as Phil Parkinson's men welcome champions Stockport County to the STōK Cae Ras, in what is anticipated to be an electric atmosphere. 


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