It wasn't pretty, but it was exactly what was needed. The nature of this performance was not enough to suggest Wrexham have the quality to mount a push for promotion, but they did show admirable character, and a 3-2 win over a side in decent form with serious promotion intentions themselves certainly shouldn't be discounted.
A lack of accurate passing allowed Ebbsfleet to dominate the opening twenty five minutes with their neat approach play, although like many Conference sides that have already faced Wrexham this season, they struggled to convert their tidy passing into chances. In fact their main threat came from the accurate corners of Stacy Long, as could be seen as early as the third minute when he whipped the ball onto Darius Charles' head, the centre back planting a free header over from seven yards.
The nature of Wrexham's performance was not pleasing the fans, and there was a fractious air at The Racecourse, with Levi Mackin and Jeff Louis coming in for particular grief. That fact that the latter would end the game as outright top scorer in the Conference says something about their choice of targets, which it was Mackin who mustered the home team's first decent effort, lashing a shot just wide from the edge of the area. It capped a first spell of pressure by Wrexham, but three minutes later they were behind. Again it was a corner by Long which caused the problem, as Gavin Ward came into the crowd at the near post with no hope of getting to the ball and Darran Kempson could only head the ball across the face of goal for Neil Barrett to propel into the empty net with a diving header.
Wrexham's response was to determine the outcome of the match. Rather than fold they fought back with genuine grit and hauled themselves back into the match more through sheer strength of character than quality. However, they had to overcome not only a powerful United back four but also the bizarre vicissitudes of a dreadful referee. Mr Rushton suffered a nightmare, and by half time he had turned down a couple of strong penalties. The clearest shout came when Tom Kearney played the ball over the top of the defence and Shaun
Substitutions:
Wrexham
Proctor for Taylor 46
C Smith for Mackin 75
Baynes for Louis 75
(UNUSED SUBS: A Williams, Mike Williams)
Ebbsfleet
Ibe for Shakes 54
Slatter for Opinel 80
(UNUSED SUBS: Stone, Pooley, Mott)
Yellow Cards:
Wrexham
Kearney, Louis
Ebbsfleet
Hand, Smith, Charles
Red Cards:
-
Whalley nipped in as Jamie Smith and Lance Cronin dallied. The centre back shoved him to the ground but Rushton, possibly bearing in mind that he would have to brandish a red card if he pointed to the spot, gave nothing.
He also ignored a decent shout for handball, ironically against Jamie Hand, and most alarmingly out Neil Taylor's health at risk in pursuit of a bizarre desire to constantly play advantage. Taylor was flattened by an arm to the
back of the head as he jumped for a high ball in the D. Incredibly the referee played advantage, on the assumption that Wrexham would rather chase the ball down the wing than have a free kick on the edge of the area, and left the flattened Taylor lying unattended with a head injury for a good minute. He would have to go off at half time.
Wrexham's efforts were rewarded, and appropriately the equaliser came about through determination as much as skill. Kearney knocked a man off the ball in midfield, drove forwards and fed Louis, whose shot from fifteen yards took a slight deflection on its way to the bottom right corner.
Louis threatened to get a second just before the break, again following good work by Kearney, but his glancing header from a dangerous cross didn't quite have enough angle on it to beat Cronin.
Ebbsfleet's threat had dissipated as the half wore on, but sloppy marking should have allowed them to snatch an injury time equaliser. A free kick into the box was headed down by Michael Gash to Barrett, who should have worked Ward, but planted his volley wide from seven yards.
Wrexham picked up the baton again at the start of the second half. Whalley was denied a clear run on goal by a marginal offside decision, before he paid a crucial role in putting Wrexham ahead. A neat turn allowed him to surge down the right flank, and the sloppy work of Sacha Opinel, who allowed him too much space, enabled him to cut inside onto his right foot and swing a perfect cross onto the head of Louis, who powered a close range header past Cronin.
However, just as Wrexham had reacted positively to going behind, so they lost the initiative once they had got their noses in front. Ebbsfleet began to dominate possession once more, although they continued to lack a good final ball, relying once more on Long's delivery from corners. One such set piece whizzed across the face of goal before being scrambled out to Barrett on the edge of the area, but the midfielder leaned back and blazed over the bar, while another was met by the head of Gash, forcing Ward into a sharp tip-over.
With a quarter of an hour left Wrexham regained their equilibrium for a brief spell of domination which would prove decisive, with Simon Brown at the sharp end. First a good break initiated by Mackin ended with Louis curling in a cross to the far post which Brown ran onto perfectly, planting his head on the ball and sending it against the bar and over from ten yards out.
Immediately Brian Little removed Louis, pushing Brown into the middle and straight from the goal kick Charles underhit a backpass to allow Brown to run clear on goal. As he ran round the keeper Charles clattered him from behind, a clear penalty and an obvious red card. Indeed, Charles stayed on his hands and knees, refusing to look up like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand, as if it would save him from dismissal. Maybe it did. Incredibly, or perhaps not considering the incredible way Rushton officiated, he merely showed a yellow.
Brown was undeterred. He stepped up and smashed the penalty down the middle to score his first Wrexham goal, although it was a good job for him that he got hold of the shot as Cronin didn't dive and the ball narrowly evaded him; if he'd stood six inches to his left the ball would have cannoned off his chest before he had a chance to move!
United had a chance to hit straight back when Simon Spender misjudged a high diagonal and allowed Charlie Ibe to go clear on goal, but although the striker slotted the ball past Ward, Spender made amends by dashing behind his keeper and clearing the ball off the line. Moments later Hand lashed in a speculative shot from distance which Ward pushed round the post, and it's interesting to note that, for all their neat approach play, apart from that effort the only chances Ebbsfleet created which didn't come from Long's set pieces were two opportunities created by defensive errors.
It appeared that the game was over. Wrexham sat back, conceding rather too much ground with their midfield too deep, but Ebbsfleet really didn't look like they were capable of creating another chance. Everything seemed to be petering out, but as injury time began a neat build-up allowed Luke Moore to work a quick 1-2 on the edge of the area and feed the ball into the six yard box, where Gash slid in to knock the ball into the bottom right corner.
Four added minutes ought to have signalled a nervous conclusion, but in all honesty Wrexham kept Ebbsfleet comfortably at arm's length to claim a victory which owed more to their character than their quality.
