By Matt Cecil
Frank Fielding's first-half penalty save was the only highlight of an uninspiring evening at the Racecourse Ground as the Blues continued their unbeaten run with a 0-0 draw in North Wales.
After the drama of Saturday's thrilling clash with MK Dons, Blues fans could have been forgiven for anticipating a night of entertainment against the Red Dragons, particularly given the Welshmen's poor run of form of late. But the match failed to live up to expectations as both sides found goalscoring chances hard to come by on a chilly Wednesday evening at the Racecourse Ground.
Paul Lambert sprang a mini-surprise by opting to leave Leon Johnson, Gary Holt and John Sutton on the bench, as Will Antwi retained his place in the back four alongside the returning captain David McCracken. Stefan Oakes was brought into the midfield while Reuben Reid was given a chance to shine up-front as Lambert supported Will Antwi's pre-match claim that good players can be replaced by equally good players in the Blues team.
But the fresh legs were unable to produce an exciting start to the game as both sides took a while finding their feet. The first noteworthy event of the night came after eight minutes when the elegantly named Silvio Spann was shown a yellow card for an illegal challenge on Stefan Oakes.
Four minutes later, Tom Williams showed the kind of talent which recently won him the PFA League Two Player of the Month award with an excellent tackle just as Matty Done was braced to pull the trigger.
The major talking point of the night came on 25 minutes when Russell Martin was adjudged to have fouled the lively Done in the area, but Ryan Valentine's spot-kick was excellently saved by Frank Fielding. The on-loan Blackburn keeper has been in fantastic form of late and showed new signing Rab Douglas that he won't be giving up the number one jersey easily.
Matty Collins became the second name in the referee's notebook in the 28th minute for a foul on Sergio Torres, and Russell Martin soon followed for an offence on Matty Done. Wrexham youngster Robbie Garrett then strode unchallenged into the Blues' box before his effort was well blocked by Antwi.
The home side began to turn the screw in terms of pressure and Silvio Spann could have put the Welsh side in front when he dragged his shot wide of the goal before the referee brought the first half to a close.
Lambert made the first substitution of the evening, replacing Antwi with Leon Johnson at the break, but the second period began in a similar fashion to the first, with neither side creating much in front of goal. A flurry of substitutions failed to inject life into the match, with Michael Proctor, Marc Williams and Neil Taylor replacing Eifion Williams, Silvio Spann and Matty Done for the home side, and John Sutton and Sam Stockley taking the places of Scott McGleish and Russell Martin for the Blues.
Reuben Reid's effort in stoppage time was directed straight at Dragons keeper Anthony Williams and it proved to be the last action of the game as the referee called time on the match and the Blues were able to reflect on a clean sheet and a point that could prove very valuable later in the season.
Our attentions are now away from the league and towards Saturday's FA Cup clash with Swindon Town. wwfc.com will bring you all the build-up to the clash, as well as reflections on tonight's stalemate at the Racecourse Ground.
The media team at Wycombe Wanderers would like to apologise for the technical problems that occurred during the match, particularly the lapses in commentary which was due to the failure of the phone line at the Racecourse Ground.
Wrexham: Anthony Williams, Simon Spender, Gareth Evans, Richard Hope, Ryan Valentine, Matty Done (Neil Taylor, 81), Rob Garrett, Matt Collins, Silvio Spann (Michael Proctor, 75), Eifion Williams (Marc Williams, 70), Chris Llewellyn.
Subs: Shaun Pejic, Neil Roberts
Wycombe: Frank Fielding, Russell Martin (Sam Stockley, 87), Tom Williams, David McCracken, Will Antwi (Leon Johnson, h/t), Martin Bullock, Stefan Oakes, Matt Bloomfield, Sergio Torres, Scott McGleish (John Sutton, 85), Reuben Reid.
Subs: Rab Douglas, Gary Holt.
Booked: Spann (16), Collins (28), Martin (30).
Referee: Mr J Moss.
Attendance: 2,805 (of which 102 were in the away end).
