Stevenage 1-0 Wrexham: Rotated visitors avoid a postponement, but not a defeat

Wrexham held on to second place in League One despite a disappointing 1-0 defeat on their first EFL visit to Stevenage.

Phil Parkinson’s side saw plenty of the ball, particularly in the second half. But the delivery from wide areas was too often found lacking, meaning Louis Thompson’s first half strike was enough to settle a hard-fought game. The Athletic picks out the main talking points.

Game on…eventually

To have one game postponed is bad enough but to lose two on the same day seemed cruel. But that was the prospect facing Wrexham two hours before kick-off on Tuesday.

Torrential rain that had fallen all day in Hertfordshire meant the game was in serious doubt ahead of a 5.30pm pitch inspection by referee Will Finnie.

Understandably, this caused plenty of concern among the 850 fans making the 360-mile round trip from north Wales with Wrexham’s X feed being peppered with comments such as ‘Ah class, I’m five minutes from Stevenage’ and ‘We’re 10 mile away, ffs’.

An hour or so earlier there had been problems when the groundstaff tried to bounce a ball on the sodden surface. The consensus of those present, including a couple of Wrexham staff members, was that the match would go the same way as the Lincoln City fixture scheduled for October 12 at the SToK Cae Ras, which earlier in the afternoon had been postponed due to international call-ups in the visitors’ camp.

With Phil Parkinson and his squad due to leave their hotel just as the inspection got under way, head of medical Kevin Mulholland represented the Welsh club alongside Stevenage manager Alex Revell.

A tour of all four corners of the pitch took 15-minutes, Finnie carrying a football to test for any heavy patches. A couple of times the ball landed with a plop when thrown in the air but with the forecast indicating there would be no further rain and the wind drying a hybrid surface that had a new drainage system installed in June, the go ahead was given.

“Once I got here, I did wonder what all the fuss had been about,” says Parkinson, who last season had to twice traipse down to Forest Green Rovers last season due to the first game falling victim to the wet weather. “The pitch was absolutely perfect.”

Let the rotating begin…

Wrexham’s starting XI was something of a closed shop in August and September with the team for the weekend draw at Leyton Orient being exactly the same as the opening day win over Wycombe Wanderers.

Eight of those had started all eight League One games during those opening two months with Jack Marriott and Ryan Bennett missing just one. Stevenage brought a shift in gear via four changes as Parkinson turned to Steven Fletcher, George Evans, Dan Scarr and Seb Revan.

Fletcher clearly created the biggest impression of the quartet on the home fans, judging by the ‘You’re just a s*** Andy Carroll’ chant aimed in his direction when receiving treatment shortly before half-time.

The Scot’s distinctive ponytail won’t have been the only thing the locals noticed, he’d also been responsible for the two best passes by some distance in that first half. Neither Jack Marriott nor Revan could take advantage, although the former did go close with a rasping shot.

Of the others handed a rare start, Scarr was aerially dominant against the direct hosts. His anticipation was also good, ensuring he was invariably in the right place at the right time to avert the danger, particularly in stoppage time when his positioning sent Dan Kemp too wide on the breakaway to properly test Arthur Okonkwo.

George Evans, so instrumental in improving Wrexham’s display at Leyton Orient on Saturday after being brought off the bench, struggled even before “feeling something crack” just before half-time.

Midfield, in fact, was a problem for much of the night, Wrexham eventually switching to a diamond for the final 25 minutes. Things improved following the change as Revan had more scope to get forward from left-back but, as with Ryan Barnett on the opposite flank, the final pass just wasn’t there.

The upshot was a second league defeat of the season, leaving the manager with a big decision as to whether any of those handed a rare start at Stevenage get the nod again at home to Northampton Town.

“I was looking forward to seeing how the lads who haven’t played much did with their opportunity,” says Parkinson. “Dan Scarr took it well, in the main. Seb did well also, while Fletch on his first start of the season showed some real quality.”

Top of the league…in the U.S. at least

Wrexham may have been replaced at the League One summit by Birmingham City in the past few days but the USA’s appetite for the Welsh club shows no sign of easing up, judging by the latest round of EFL matches selected for live broadcast on the other side of the Atlantic.

Having had all eight of their League One matches shown live by CBS Sports as part of their new four-year deal with the League, Wrexham’s appeal is once again underlined by all six league fixtures in October also being chosen, starting with the loss to Stevenage.

One of those will now not take place, the home game against Lincoln City on Saturday week having been postponed due to international call-ups in the visiting camp.

Nevertheless, none of the other 71 EFL clubs can match Wrexham’s 100 per cent transmission record, Championship heavyweights Leeds United the closest with 13 of their opening 14 games to be shown live in the United States followed by West Bromwich Albion (11), Norwich City and Burnley (both 10).

Considering how skewed the new TV deal is towards the second tier — CBS promise to show a minimum 155 live Championship fixtures this season, plus at least 38 from across the league’s lower two divisions — Wrexham’s tally of appearances in the opening three months is remarkable.

To put their 13 live games into context, Tom Brady’s Birmingham will be shown just four times, while none of the other 22 third tier teams will be on more than twice before the FA Cup first round weekend over November 2/3.

CBS do not release viewing figures publicly but the latest TV selection suggests America’s fascination with the Welsh club, fuelled by the success of Welcome to Wrexham, remains intact.