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Youths sign off on a high
Within three minutes we had taken the lead and it was Akbar, who hammered home a penalty after Turner had drawn a foul from the keeper. We continued to probe at the visitors defence with good passing moves leading to breaks from both Lewis Craig and Dean Stott. On both occasions though the keeper was able to cut out the final ball and prevent us from capitalising.
As the half progressed Wrexham shut up shop and dropped virtually everyone back into their half in an attempt to stifle our passing play and as a result the game ground to halt.
The half time interval allowed the coaching staff to offer their solutions and inspire the lads. Whatever was said worked as within 5 minutes we had extended our lead. The ball was fed in to Alex McDonald on the right and he flicked it on, spun two markers and charged into the box, firing into the far corner of the net.
The second goal sparked the visitors into life slightly and they strung together a couple of attacks. One of these had our defence at sixes and sevens and as the ball was shifted across the pitch the left winger collected and shot. Jon Sergeant made a good save initially but the rebound fell kindly for Wrexham and the deficit was halved.
We retook control following the goal and strove to maintain possession of the ball. The patient approach worked well and a defence splitting pass found Akbar, who made no mistake. At 3-1 we took the opportunity to make some changes, bringing on schoolboys Matt Lomas and John Cofie, as well as a young midfield trialist.
It could have backfired horribly though as soon after Akbar was on the end of a bad challenge and had to be carried from the pitch, unable to return. There were 20 minutes to go and the one man disadvantage could have let Wrexham back into it. However, we just continued to deny them possession and maintained our grip on the game.
Cofie could have scored when he broke free of the defence and rounded the keeper, but a fingertip pushed the ball to a defender. Minutes later though he did get his goal, as again we cut through their defence with ease. Cofie ran on to the ball and, seeing the keeper advancing, chipped it over his sliding body to make it 4-1.
Being the final game of the season this was the last time some of these lads will wear the claret and blue in competitive action. If any are offered deals following the completion of their apprenticeships they will hopefully emulate the likes of Lafferty, McCann and Chaplow and go from strength to strength. I hope those who get bad news can still stay in the game and follow the likes of Pugh and Trotman who have shown that there are possibilities after Burnley. Good luck lads and I hope to see you play again.
Team :- Jon Sergeant, Dean Stott, Paul Casey (Matt Lomas), Jack Overson, Thomas Bradley, Lewis Craig, Ali Akbar, Ash Young, Connor Smith (A Trialist), Alex McDonald, Rob Turner (John Cofie). Sub not used :- Chris Lynch.