Wrexham negativity decides stalemate

Rochdale 0
Wrexham 0

Rochdale came close to winning back-to-back games against a Wrexham side content to put eleven men behind the ball and scrap for a point in their battle at the foot of League Two. Dale hit the crossbar and had a header cleared off the line but could not carve open a Wrexham side who defended in numbers and offered nothing in the way of a goal threat.

Last season this fixture was Rochdale manager Keith Hill’s first home game in charge of the side and it started a run of results that saw him given the job on a permanent basis. Rochdale went two goals down, which included an opening goal by Lee McEvilly, but came back to claim a point. The outcome here was the same but without the excitement and McEvilly failed to make any impact against his former club.

Adam Le Fondre’s delightful chip from the edge of the box had Wrexham goalkeeper Anthony Williams beaten, only to come down off the angle of post and bar. It was one of few moments of real quality in the game but that did not seem to bother Wrexham manager Brian Little too much as his side completed the job that was asked of them.

The former Aston Villa boss said: “It was important that we were hard to play against and we’ve come away with an important 0-0 draw, which means we can start looking at playing more football. It was pleasing that as a group we were working hard and wanted to defend. Over all I was pleased that the players wanted to get something from the game.”

Little’s Rochdale counter part Keith Hill was less than impressed with the tactics employed by his opposite number. He said: “As a football fan I would not have paid to watch Wrexham today. That was not football from them. We kept huffing and puffing and on another day we would have created opportunities but it was hard against five defenders. I’ve told the lads we might face games like this at home, where teams will adopt similar tactics, but perhaps with a view to winning the game, and we have to break them down.”

Rochdale went three up front midway through the second half in a bid to find the vital goal but Le Fondre’s audacious attempt was the closest they came.

Dale were in the opposition half for the majority and earned 13 corners but only one of their attempts on target truly threatened the Wrexham goal. As the game neared its conclusion Kallum Higginbotham stole a yard on his marker from a Rory Prendergast corner but his bullet header was cleared off the line by Neil Taylor and the same player hacked out Le Fondre’s follow up.

The final chance of the game saw Le Fondre glance a header over at the near post from Simon Ramsden’s cross. It was one of many attempts that had failed to test Williams and Wrexham were able to hold out for a point that moves them off the foot of the table.

The closest, and perhaps only time Wrexham came close to scoring was during their brightest spell at the start of the second half. Matty Done nearly embarrassed home keeper Sam Russell with a well struck shot that Russell fumbled in a similar style to England keeper Scott Carson in the game against Croatia. Russell was more fortunate than Carson however, as his mistake only led to a corner rather than a goal.

Wrexham defenders were constantly in the faces of their attacking counterparts and it was clear by the end of the first half that Rochdale were running out of methods by which they might break the visitors down.

The first half offered Dale one clear-cut chance when Adam Rundle fed Le Fondre inside the Wrexham box. The striker, reinstated in Rochdale’s starting line-up in place of Glenn Murray, turned well to earn space to shoot but fired his effort just wide across the face of goal.

McEvilly and David Perkins had both hit the target with decent enough strikes but the two shots were straight at Williams.

Sam Russell’s first half was even more uneventful than that of his opposite number. He only had a Done effort to watch trickle into his hands. That and his fumble from Done’s second half strike gives a full description of the Dale goalkeeper’s afternoon but the draw had an air of inevitability about it once Le Fondre’s shot came back off the woodwork.

The match had few enough chances to dictate that the chip hitting the bar, rather than the back of the net, was the game’s deciding moment.

Attendance: 2808

Rochdale: Russell, Ramsden, Kennedy, Holness, Stanton, Higginbotham, Jones, Perkins (Doolan 63), Rundle (Murray 59), McEvilly (Prendergast 71), Le Fondre.
Subs not used: Spencer, McArdle.

Booked: Higginbotham, Murray.

Wrexham: A Williams, Hope, Evans, Pejic, Baynes, Roberts, Llewellyn, Taylor, Aiston, Proctor (M Williams 70), Done (Johnson 81).
Subs not used: Jones, Garrett, E Williams.

Booked: Taylor, Baynes.

Attempts (on target): Rochdale 12 (6) Wrexham 5 (2)
Freekicks: Rochdale 12 Wrexham 14
Offside: Rochdale 3 Wrexham 1
Corners: Rochdale 13 Wrexham 2

Referee: M Haywood