Dragons heading towards the abyss

Jan 13 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wales On Sunday

Grimsby Town 1-0 Wrexham

WREXHAM’S woes at the foot of League Two continued with a narrow defeat at in-form Grimsby.

A 68th minute opportunist strike from top scorer Danny North won the points for the home side and left the Dragons rooted to the bottom of the table after an eighth straight league loss.

North nipped in to take advantage of some hesitancy at the back and lob new keeper Gavin Ward to seal the win.

And there was even more bad news for the North Walians with influential midfielder Mark Jones stretchered off with a torn hamstring.

Boss Brian Little handed starts to new signings Paul Hall and Danny Sonner, while fellow transfer window arrivals Phil Bolland and Ward made their league debuts for the club after switching from rivals Chester.

With Jones back in central midfield alongside Sonner, and Neil Roberts dropping deep, the Dragons looked to match the home side like for like.

They could have gone behind as early as the eighth minute as Flintshire born Grimsby defender Nick Fenton rose to head a cross back across the goal for Gary Jones to nod the wrong side of the post from a few yards.

The Dragons hit back and it was new boy Hall who almost broke the deadlock on 12 minutes. Good work by Marc Williams fed Hall 18 yards out and he unleashed a curling right footer that brought a fantastic one-handed save out of Grimsby keeper Phil Barnes.

He was at full stretch to his left to get a strong hand on the rasper, but still needed help to clear the loose ball from midfielder Paul Bolland.

It sparked Grimsby into action and they put the pressure on Wrexham with a succession of corners and crosses. New stopper Ward flapped at one deep cross and needed the help of Steve Evans on the line to head clear after Grimsby’s Nick Hegarty sliced a close range effort when he should have scored.

The Dragons weathered the storm and were a threat on the counter, with Hall particularly lively. He almost got on the end of a Mark Jones cross and then set up Marc Williams who poked just wide. Williams then brought another smart stop out of Barnes from a corner with a right-footed effort from the angle.

Little’s side had scares at the back but were not afraid to sit and hit the Mariners on the break.

There was another heart in the mouth moment for the travelling fans five minutes before the break when Paul Bolland saw his shot from 12 yards come back off the angle of post and bar following a slip by Evans.

After the interval Grimsby remained on the front foot with Evans again to the rescue to deny Hegarty and head over his own bar to clear the danger five minutes in. Then North tried his luck from inside the box, but pulled his effort into the side netting.

The Wrexham goal was leading a charmed life, but it wasn’t completely one-way traffic. Another fine pass from Mark Jones found Richard Hope in space and his header had to be put behind by Paul Bolland from inside his own six yard box.

Play was held up on the hour mark as referee Graham Salisbury was forced off with an injury and assistant Mark Brown took charge.

A lull in the game saw the Dragons gain hope and they forced Grimsby onto the back foot briefly. But all their hard work was ruined when they allowed North in to open the scoring with what was a sloppy goal on Wrexham’s part. A long ball over the top from Tom Newey saw Ward race out, but he was just beaten to the ball by the young striker who lifted a chip over the helpless keeper and into the empty net.

It had been coming and it could have got even worse two minutes later when a fast break from Grimsby saw Ward in action to parry from Hegarty and then again on the follow up from North as Wrexham’s roof threatened to cave in.

Another blow saw Jones leave the field on a stretcher – he had arguably been Wrexham’s best player. Incredibly, the stretcher was on again with nine minutes to go after Grimsby’s Fenton had been clattered into by Evans defending a corner.

It meant another change for Grimsby with Justin Whittle coming on, while Little tried a last throw of the dice with a double change to introduce Michael Proctor and Matty Done for Marc Williams and Roberts.

But it was Grimsby who again went closest when Whittle hammered a shot from the tightest of angles against the post in the dying stages.