You Have To Take Chances: Wrexham 1-0 Imps

There are some nights where we lose, and we deserve to lose. I can live with those, honestly, I can.

Then, there are nights like tonight. Nights where I am proud of the team’s performance in 95% of the game, but feel so incredibly let down by the 5% that involves putting the ball in the net. I’m not criticising individuals here, but everything we did, bar the final action, was good tonight. We were front-footed, we played lovely football, and we created no fewer than 14 chances to score a goal.

Of those 14, one was on target. One. 93% of the chances we created went high, wide, and handsome. I can’t say ‘unforgivable’ because I feel creating chances and playing this well is a good thing. This Wrexham side haven’t been beaten at home this season, and aside from that one action, that one finish, we did everything needed to beat them.

It makes analysis of the game virtually impossible because the tale of the game is dead simple. We missed our chances. If we put two of those 14 away—so 14% of the chances we created—we’d have beaten one of the ‘best’ sides in the division, according to the table. We created, we played nice football, Jack Moylan shone, and yet the front two (in terms of missed chances, probably three) just weren’t clinical enough. As one person said after the final whistle, we have five decent strikers, but we just need one really good one.

I’ve argued against that point all season, but after tonight, I do find it hard to die on a hill when a compelling argument has been put to me in the form of four games where we have taken two points, and seven was entirely possible.

The team selection brought a surprise—Lewis Montsma missed out, meaning Tendayi Darikwa had to slot in at right centre-back. That’s never a worry, he’s an accomplished player in any position, but it did mean Erik Ring came in at right wing-back. He’s attack-minded, but could he defend against his opposition wing-back? He had to keep James McClean subdued and did a decent job. That said, the right side of the field was helped early: Lewis Brunt got a yellow card after about ten minutes, meaning he wasn’t quite as aggressive in the first period.

Dom Jeffries was back at left wing-back, giving us a bit more balance, while in Ben House’s absence, Bailey Cadamarteri came in. Jovon kept his place, although with Fred only just back on the bench, there wasn’t a lot more Michael could do.

The first half definitely belonged to the Imps, but it might be construed as a negative. We created better chances but without being clinical enough, and that has been a complaint in recent weeks. We managed eight efforts, but only one was on target, and that will certainly have supporters wondering if we’re a decent striker away from the top six.

I can see their argument, but at the same time, let’s celebrate what we do have in Paudie O’Connor. Of the four chances I felt were good, he was involved in three. The first was our only effort on target, a flicked header from a free kick which their keeper scrambled away. Paudie was a real handful in the front line when we got dead balls in, which was a theme in the first period.

Bailey Cadamarteri, a man everyone says would have ‘buried’ chances Jovon has missed, then missed a good chance. In fairness, it was a Paudie header that caused a bit of a commotion, and Bailey saw the ball drop to his feet late. He snatched at it before a defender could take it off his toes, and it went wide.

We saw a nice free-kick routine almost break the deadlock against Exeter, and we saw the same again here. A free kick from the left was whipped near post, and Paudie (again) almost got the flick on. I’m not sure if it came off their defender, but it lifted up and over the bar for a corner.

Moylan, who looked much livelier than he did against Wycombe, then had an effort of his own. Down the left, Roughan and Jeffries were getting a lot of joy, and they bullied the defence into spewing up possession. The cross evaded Bailey and Erik Ring, but was recycled for Moylan, who stroked a ball through the defence, but just wide of the post.

Overall, it was a really assured first-half performance, but I saw a comment that suggested Wycombe would be ‘2-0 up’ by the time the referee called for half-time. Honestly, it’s hard to argue that. I’d say Birmingham would have been as well, but having just watched Willumson miss two sitters (and he’s in my fantasy team), I’m not sure it’s entirely accurate!

There were moments at the other end, a delivery from the excellent James McClean causing plenty of problems. Ollie Palmer was putting himself about, as he usually does, but without any finesse or poise, which again was reminiscent of his time with us. Overall, we may have been level at half-time, but the happier manager would absolutely have been Michael Skubala.