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2 weeks ago
10
If Wrexham v Birmingham was the alternative Battle of Britain on Thursday night, it certainly lived up to its billing as the League One promotion chasers played out the scrappiest of draws.
Like at Old Trafford, it was a fight between red and blue for supremacy but they cancelled one another out in front of a capacity crowd of 13,237. Ollie Rathbone scored a fine opener from range before Lyndon Dykes just about claimed an equaliser thanks to a deflection to ensure a fair result to leave the teams third and first respectively.
This is more than a League One fixture, the US television audience figures are almost as important as the three points on offer. There was a lights show before the Birmingham owner, Tom Wagner, took his position in the away end with the visiting supporters, having already sunk a pint or two with them in The Turf before kick-off. Wrexham were boosted by the news that their captain, James McClean, was deemed fit after being involved in a car crash on Wednesday, although his arm was heavily bandaged.
Those in blue had some early complaints as they appealed for two handballs in the Wrexham box within four minutes but the referee, Will Finnie, was not particularly interested in the arm slapping from the Birmingham players.
There was further upset with the referee after Rathbone had curled a fine opener into the bottom corner from 20 yards. The industrious Ollie Palmer dispossessed Taylor Gardner-Hickman before Rathbone picked up the loose ball and gave Ryan Allsop no chance. The Birmingham midfielder was clearly not aware of Palmer’s back catalogue and felt the Wrexham striker had been too physical but neither the home fans nor officials seemed concerned.
Eight minutes later the score was level again. It was all too simple for Birmingham as Marc Leonard’s corner to the back post found Dykes in space and he nodded towards goal and the ball finally nestled in the net after being diverted in off Wrexham’s George Dobson’s back but the Scotland striker claimed the goal.
Considering this is billed as the “Hollywood derby”, there was limited glitz and even less glamour in the stands. Neither of Wrexham’s owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, were in attendance, while the Birmingham investor Tom Brady was not in the Wrexham Lager Stand with his fellow Blues. Whether Jasper Carrott was here is unknown.
Wrexham are a robust and direct team, rarely trying to play it along the ground and this gave Birmingham the opportunity to seize control after the equaliser. They are the more composed side and it is easy to see why they sit atop of the league and were constantly causing the hosts problems down the flanks.
It was always going to be a tight encounter between the two meanest defences in the division. Wrexham hoped the energy and workrate of Palmer and Elliot Lee would wear down the Birmingham centre-backs, while the visitors sought to find space between centre-backs and wing-backs.
Wrexham’s style was the more effective in the opening stages of the second half as they pushed Birmingham back but a Dobson shot, easily saved by Allsop, was their only attempt amid a period of positivity for Phil Parkinson’s side. Birmingham were finding it difficult to rediscover the calmness that helped them dictate matters before the break, withering slightly in the face of Wrexham’s physicality, which forced the visitors to go long more often than desired.
Chances were limited but there was much excitement when Ryan Barnett swung a cross into the box from the right that, possibly aided by the increasing wind, was tipped over the bar by a backtracking Allsop. The resulting corner forced the goalkeeper to remain alert as McClean steered a header on target from close range but Allsop showed impressive reactions to keep it out.
The battering rams of Palmer and Lee were replaced by the former Vauxhall Motors forward Paul Mullin and ex-Marseille striker Steven Fletcher as a fresh strikeforce might be able to make the most of any tiredness in the Birmingham backline. Christoph Klarer and Ben Davies, however, were holding firm, battling with the new front two and heading everything that came their way.
If a winner was to come, it seemed las if it would result from a Wrexham corner. A couple descended into six-yard box scrambles but both sets of supporters left with the hope they were one point closer to achieving their ambitions of promotion to the Championship.
