RUTHLESS REDSHAW DOWNS THE DRAGONS
TWO GOALS from Jack Redshaw helped FC Halifax Town punish 10man Wrexham 4-0 at the Shay to take their place in the second round.
An eighth-minute Niall Maher free-kick put the Shaymen in front before Redshaw struck twice in the space of nine minutes after the break to all but end the contest.
Any hope of a Dragons revival went with Leighton McIntosh’s red card on 65 minutes before Danny Williams wrapped it up with a late fourth.
“I got what I wanted today,” said satisfied boss Pete Wild. “The players were excellent, everybody contributed to a really good team display.”
Halifax started the better of the two teams in an entertaining opening.
Within a minute, Williams picked out Jamie Allen, who got his shot away inside the Wrexham area, however it just trickled wide of the post.
But it didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken. Allen was fouled on the edge of the area following his advancing forward run and Maher stepped up to fire the ball through the Wrexham wall and into the bottom corner with the aid of a slight deflection.
Halifax continued to have the better of the game and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead just two minutes into the second half.
Redshaw was played inside the area by Allen, and steadied himself before getting a powerful shot away, with Dibble having no chance.
Under-strength Wrexham,
however, squandered a glorious chance to get back in the game just two minutes later when Matty Brown brought down JJ Hooper in the area but the Dragons striker saw his penalty kick saved by a sprawling Sam Johnson.
Indeed, Wrexham were made to pay just seven minutes later. A Tobi Sho-Silva flickon played Redshaw through and he held his nerve to dink the ball over Dibble and into the back of the net.
It all got too much for McIntosh, whose late tackle on Maher left referee Joe Hull with no choice but to produce the red card, with little protest from the Wrexham midfielder.
And the rout was completed on 88 minutes as a low strike from Williams inside the area found its way into the back of the net.
Wrexham manager Dean Keates was disappointed with the team’s performance, although admitting that this game was a chance for him to test young players.
“There’s some good young players in there,” he said. “I’ve not seen them as much as I’ve liked to so it was good to be able to play them today.”