Wrexham 1 - 5 Tranmere Rovers

Armstrong 67    Dagnall 21

                    Hume 42

                   Roberts 49

                   Whitmore 79

                      Hall 81

Attendance: 6221

At last a superb game to write about as Tranmere ran riot at the Racecourse with the kind of performance a promotion chasing team should be producing. As a Wrexham based Rovers fan I had feared this game for days but in the end I had nothing to worry about and my prediction of a draw could not have been more wrong!

Rovers scored twice in the first half through Dagnall and Hume and early in the second with an excellent Roberts goal before a defensive mix-up handed Armstrong a goal and Wrexham a slim lifeline. Rovers scored twice more through Whitmore and Hall to wrap an extremely satisfactory three points and to keep pace with the league leaders

Rovers made two changes to the team that lost to Bristol City on Monday night with Whitmore replacing Harrison in Midfield and Paul Hall making way for Chris Dagnall upfront Wrexham fans were boosted by the return from long term injury of star midfielder Carlos Edwards.

The opening twenty minutes were pretty even with both sides having chances and putting in some hefty challenges which saw both Goodison and Wrexham’s Holt booked early on. Chris Llewelyn a great early chance for Wrexham when Carlos Edwards appeared to foul Roberts but play continued and when Llewelyn found himself unmarked he scuffed high and wide from a tight angle.

On 21 minutes, Tranmere took the lead through the excellent Chris Dagnall from Hume’s excellent harassment at a Wrexham set piece. Hume charged down a Pejic throw and found Dagnall who side stepped a defender and found the bottom right corner from a dozen yards to send almost 2000 Rovers fans into celebration.

Seven minutes later, Rovers lost captain McAteer with what appeared to be a back injury and he was replaced by Danny Harrison in Midfield. This did not put Tranmere off their stride however and they continued to push forward with Hume firing a good chance wide. On 42 minutes, the goalscoring roles were reversed when a great through ball from Dagnall split the defence and found Hume who curled the ball in off the right hand post to give Tranmere a comfortable half-time lead.

Wrexham made a half-time change bringing on Craig Morgan at the back for Shaun Pejic in an attempt to get something from the game but four minutes into the second half the game was effectively over as Roberts scored his second goal of the season against Wrexham with a superb volley from the edge of the area after a ball across had fallen for him.

Wrexham were gifted a goal on 67 minutes when a Tranmere defended jumped with goalkeeper Howarth at a corner causing Russell to spill the ball and Armstrong lashed the ball home. The goal seemed to spur Wrexham to life and Tranmere’s defence seemed to be under more threat than at any other time in the game.

Armstrong headed against the Tranmere bar during a fiery Wrexham spell and Howarth made two good saves from Carlos Edwards and substitute Hector Sam as Tranmere looked slightly shaky but they stood firm at the back and got further reward with 11 minutes left when a great ball in midfield from Hume released a Tranmere attack which lead to Whitmore scoring the fourth.

Hall replaced Dagnall on 74 minutes and with nine minutes left he found space to curl the ball past Valero for the final nail in Wrexham’s awful afternoon.

All in all a great afternoon for Rovers with Hull being held to a home draw with Peterborough. Tranmere are now five points behind the top two but both Hull and Luton have a game in hand. Tranmere’s goal difference is slightly better now though.

Next up is Walsall at home next Saturday on 22nd January.

My Man of the Match:

Iain Hume: - Difficult to single out anyone as all performances were excellent but for making two and scoring one, plus his excellent partnership with Dagnall, Hume shades it.

Wrexham: Valero, Pejic (Morgan 45), Roberts, Lawrence, Edwards, Whitley, Crowell, Llewellyn, Holt, Ugarte (Sam 56), Armstrong.
Subs Not Used: Spender, Michael Jones, Green.

Bookings: Holt, Crowell, Armstrong, Llewellyn

Tranmere: Howarth, Taylor, Roberts, Goodison (Linwood 82), Sharps, Jackson, McAteer (Harrison 28), Rankine, Whitmore, Hume, Dagnall (Hall 74)

Subs Not Used: Jones, Dadi

Bookings: Goodison

Referee – Mr E. Evans