BARNET ......... 0 WREXHAM ....... 0
WREXHAM edged a point closer to promotion after they clung on to a goalless draw against Barnet despite going down to 10 men.
It wasn’t a pretty game, far from it, in fact, with chances few and far between. But the flashpoint came in the 51st minute when Callum McFadzean left a foot in on the Barnet goalkeeper and was rightly given his marching orders.
It meant Phil Parkinson’s side were left clinging on at the end, especially when David Moyo was clean through in the dying seconds – only to fluff his lines and put his shot wide of the mark.
It might be seen as two points lost in the race for top spot, but given the performance the Welsh side put in, they will be happy to come away without a loss.
It was a first half of few chances for either side, with Wrexham’s Elliot Lee seeing a shot from range saved and a Barnet cross hitting Harry Smith before floating wide of the mark. The red card not long after the break turned the tide of what had until then been an even match and the balance tipped in the hosts’ favour.
McFadzean looked to pounce on a loose ball in the box, which was snaffled up by Bees keeper Laurie Walker and the Wrexham man kept his foot in for a fraction too long and appeared to make contact with the Barnet man’s head. He was subsequently given his marching orders.
Not long after, Ollie Palmer had a strike saved following a lovely run from Ryan Barnett, while Eoghan O’Connell’s header was cleared off the line a little later on. But that’s as good as it got for Wrexham. They had to defend deep and sternly, but did so well, despite a barrage of late efforts, including that Moyo chance.
But it’s a point gained for Wrexham, whose manager received a red card at full-time for confronting Walker after the full-time whistle. An unwelcome moment at the end of what was a fairly and toughly-contested match.
It’s not a giant stride towards promotion, but it’s one more tentative step, at least, for the National League’s top-placed side.
“That’s a soft red card,” Parkinson said after the match. “I can’t see that. It’s his trailing leg, there is no real intent there. For me, he has got it wrong and the keeper made a meal of it and that influences the referee’s decision. When you go down to 10 men, a point is good. I always felt there might be a moment for us, but it didn’t come. The lads have dug deep and put in a strong performance against a good side.”
Walker lifted the lid on the accusations which came from Parkinson in the post-match melee. “He was basically trying to say I was cheating,” Walker told BT Sport. “But I’m sure, as you guys can see at home, he has come through and kicked me straight in the face. That’s all I’m going to say on it.”