Red Dragons suffer from Frostbite as Clarets get back to winning ways

Last updated : 01 April 2012 By Andy Ashworth
Two goals for Jason Gilchrist

The lads were knocked off the summit of the table due to the cup involvement but the title is still in their hands if they win their games. 

The team was missing Steven Hewitt and Cameron Howieson, due to their travelling down with the first team to Portsmouth, and also Alex Mullin and Tom Anderson who were out injured. The lack of numbers saw a chance for u-15 winger Jamie Frost who took the number 11 shirt, along with three schoolboys who filled the bench alongside Josh Cook. The keeper had been rested to the bench with Ben Woodhead returning after the FAYC restrictions meant he missed out on the derby games. 

We started brightly and were moving the ball around well, whilst keeping possession from the visitors. We didn’t create a real opening until around ten minutes in, but when we did we took the lead. Frost took down a dropping ball in a central area and looked up, playing a dinked ball over the defence. Jason Gilchrist ran past his marker and lobbed it cleverly over the keeper into the back of the net. 

Five minutes later we doubled our lead as a cross field ball from the right was misjudged by the Wrexham defence allowing Frost to run on unopposed. He kept a cool head to dink it past the onrushing keeper and make it 2-0. The youngster was certainly making a big impact on his first start. 

Gilchrist was played in on the right of the area but his shot was saved by the legs of the keeper and McCartan saw a shot deflected wide following a delicious ball by Luke Gallagher. The visitors were throwing their weight around by now and our lads were more than once on the end of some hefty challenges. Aryn Williams in particular seemed to be targeted and after a couple of fouls was forced off the field to be replaced by Charlie Holt. 

Just before the end of the half Frost found himself in an almost identical position to when he scored but saw his effort blocked by a retreating defender. There was also a very deep cross from Evans that evaded everyone in the box and was just out of the reach of Frost. 

In the second half the wind seemed to pick up, change direction and turn Baltic. Chances became a rarity with the keeper snaffling the ball at the feet of Frost and Gilchrist seeing his shot deflected just wide and into the side netting. We then lost our second player through injury. This time it was the opposite full back Luke Conlan who was replaced by Luke Daly. Our lack of depth in defence was apparent here and Archie Love was forced to cover at left back. Lewis Nuttall then also came on for Adam Evans taking his place on the right wing. 

The final fifteen minutes of the game saw Wrexham come more into it and exert some pressure. The best chance though came from a Love back header that looked to have looped over Woodhead and into the net, but fortunately it went wide. 

However, we sealed the win with 5 remaining on the clock. Holt picked up the ball on the edge of our box and set off on a run directly through the centre of the park. He was invited to push on and accepted with glee, making up 70 yards before slipping the ball to Gilchrist on the left of the box. The striker was unlikely to miss with just the keeper to beat and didn’t disappoint with a cool finish that wrapped it up. 

Team:- Ben Woodhead, Aryn Williams (Charlie Holt), Luke Conlan (Luke Daly), Alex Coleman, Jack Errington, Luke Gallagher, Archie Love, Adam Evans (Lewis Nuttall), Jamie Frost, Shay McCartan, Jason Gilchrist.
Sub not used:- Josh Cook