Two goals in ten second half minutes condemned Fulham to a desperate defeat at Wrexham in the snow this evening.
The Welsh side began this fixture in attacking mood, forcing a flurry of early corners, but Fulham’s defence stood firm. It was the Londoners who fashioned the game’s first chance when Jeff Eckhardt drilled a shot straight at Andy Marriott. Goalmouth action was few and far between in the first half hour with Gary Brazil’s glancing header also giving the Wrexham goalkeeper some catching practice.
But Fulham were to pay for their prolificacy in front of goal. Top scorer Brazil won’t want to be reminded of his glaring miss five minutes after the interval when he spooned a shot over the bar from just five yards out after excellent play from Udo Onwere and Simon Morgan. Wrexham almost took the lead when Steve Watkin rattled the far post with a header that bounced off the work and back into the grateful arms of Fulham goalkeeper Jim Stannard.
The visitors went straight up the other end and created a shooting opportunity that Julian Hails squandered before Peter Baath blasted high and wide after a clever decoy run for Brazil. Those misses came back to haunt the Cottagers when Wrexham went ahead with twenty minutes to play. The returning Karl Connolly eased away from two tacklers in midfield, shifted the ball out to Mel Pejic on the right and continued his run. He was perfectly positioned to sweep home past Stannard when left unattended from the full back’s cross – having cantered fully forty yards to change the complexion of this contest.
The impressive Bryan Hughes then forced a fine save from Stannard with a low drive before Kieron Durkan made sure of the points for the home side by following up after Hughes had rattled the woodwork with a venomous drive from 20 yards. It was Durkan’s first league goal – and it killed off any prospect of a Fulham revival as Don Mackay’s side were taught a harsh lesson in the importance of scoring when you’re on top.
WREXHAM: Marriott; Pejic, Hunter, Hardy, Jones; Lake, Durkan, Brammer, Hughes (Paskin 85); Connolly, Watkin.
GOALS: Connolly (70), Durkan (79).
FULHAM: Stannard; Angus, Eckhardt, G, Thomas, Pike, Marshall, Morgan, Onwere (Bedrossian 85), Hails, Baah, Brazil. Subs (not used): Harrison, Tierling.
REFEREE: Philip Wright.
ATTENDANCE: 2,094.
