Via Wrexham AFC
After two impressive victories over Halifax Town and Altrincham, Wrexham look to complete a run of three home league games with another win. The Red Dragons take on Maidenhead United on Tuesday November 1, with the match at the Racecourse Ground kicking off at 7.45pm.
Saturday’s excellent 4-0 win over Altrincham maintained the remarkable home form Phil Parkinson’s side has enjoyed this year. We’ve won 19 of our last 20 home league games, and have dropped just 4 points from 66 at The Racecourse. The goals have been flowing too: 34 in eight home matches at an average of 4.25 per match, and 73 in 21 over the calendar year in North Wales.
But which teams have taken points from us on our own patch? Solihull Moors and Maidenhead United.
Wrexham might be in spectacular home form, but United are opponents who not only have a recent habit of coming out on top of the Red Dragons, but also have already shown their ability to beat the best teams in the division this season.
Maidenhead jumped up to 15th place on Saturday after a 1-0 win over Bromley, who in turn dropped out of the play-off places.
“It was nice to get what we deserved. It’s nice to win against a decent side today. We have to press and play with energy, but we got that goal in the end and I’m delighted.”
Maidenhead manager Alan Devonshire
Cole Kpekawa scored the only goal with five minutes left, while debutant goalkeeper Alexis Andre Jnr, in for the suspended Daniel Gyollai, kept a clean sheet in a determined performance.
Andre will remain in goal at The Racecourse as Gyollai is still unavailable following a bizarre incident last Saturday against Solihull Moors, in which he lashed out at an opponent, earning a red card and conceding a penalty in the process.
Bromley aren’t the only high-flying side to have fallen to The Magpies either. They also beat Woking currently 5th in the table, at home, and started this month with a terrific 2-1 win at Chesterfield. The margin of victory would have been greater but for a last minute goal by The Spireites.
WREXHAM’S RECORD AGAINST MAIDENHEAD UNITED
Wrexham have a score to settle with Maidenhead United after last season. The Magpies were expert party-poopers, spoiling Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ first experience of watching Wrexham in the flesh with a 3-2 home win, and then grabbing an equaliser in the second minute of added time at The Racecourse.
Paul Mullin was the pivotal figure in both matches: at Maidenhead the referee sent Bryce Hosannah off rather than Mullin in a case of mistaken identity, and he fought the law again in the return match.
He was dismissed for a late challenge, which is ironic as it was the earliest red card ever received by a Wrexham player, after just four minutes.
The ten men responded impressively and took the lead through Aaron Hayden. The Magpies would thwart us in injury time though, and we shouldn’t have been surprised as they haven’t lost to us in four seasons.
They’re unbeaten in their last six matches against us, which is a remarkable turnaround in the fixture as before that run we’d won the first four games against United.
Maidenhead have won once at The Racecourse, in October 2020. We started well but they took the lead in the 24th minute against the run of play and we just couldn’t get things going after that, perhaps hampered by having to play behind closed doors.
Our most recent win in this fixture came in January 2019, when Luke Young scored the only goal with a typically spectacular strike.
Young is our equal top scorer in this fixture, alongside Jordan Davies and Manny Smith, with two goals. However, Young also has the unwanted distinction of a third goal in this fixture, at the wrong end in a 2-2 home draw two seasons ago!
POTENTIAL MILESTONES
Paul Mullin’s 375th career match.
Jordan Davies’ 125th career match.
