A stirring second-half display wasn’t enough to prevent Wrexham starting the new year with a 2-1 defeat at a rain-sodden Barnsley.
The Athletic picks out the main talking points from an afternoon that leaves the Welsh club third in League One and two points off the automatic promotion spots.
Worrying recent trend continues
Before the second-half onslaught that left manager Phil Parkinson declaring he was “not downbeat in any stretch of the imagination” despite starting the new year with a defeat, there was a repeat of a worrying defensive trait that has started to creep into Wrexham’s game.
Namely, a vulnerability down the right side that led directly to four of the last five goals conceded by Parkinson’s side in 2024.
And now, on the first day of 2025, the visitors were opened up down the same flank in devastating fashion for both of Barnsley’s first-half goals.
Firstly, Davis Keillor-Dunn drifted into a wide position after a Wrexham attack had broken down at the other end and a raking pass from Adam Phillips duly found the forward.
With Max Cleworth too slow to close him down, Keillor-Dunn looked up before curling an exquisite shot beyond the blameless Mark Howard.
Barnsley’s second goal came via a similar route, Max Watters this time getting the better of Eoghan O’Connell on halfway and out near the touchline in front of the main stand at Oakwell.
O’Connell pictured earlier this season (Chris Vaughan/Getty Images)
Cleworth then blocked Watters’ path to goal, only for the Barnsley man to show great presence of mind to hold the ball up before picking out the unmarked Phillips in the middle.
O’Connell did his best to make up for his earlier slip by closing down Phillips, who merely stepped inside a challenge before picking his spot in the roof of Howard’s net.
“We gave them a leg up in the first half, certainly with that first goal,” said Parkinson afterwards and it was difficult to argue, especially as Barnsley could have enjoyed further success down that side in the opening 45 minutes, with wing-back Barry Cotter twice failing to capitalise when well-placed down the Wrexham right channel.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect was how this weak spot had been evident as Blackpool and Wigan Athletic scored the final two goals of the year at The Racecourse Ground.
Both were close-range finishes by Ashley Fletcher and Joe Hugill respectively and both originated out wide on the Wrexham right.
It had been a similar story in the 2-2 draw at home to Cambridge United on December 14, as Elias Kachunga tapped in the visitors’ first goal after Shayne Lavery had got in behind Cleworth following an earlier bout of indecision between Ryan Barnett and George Dobson.
Completing the December list of goals conceded that emanated from a mistake on the right side of defence was Bristol Rovers’ late equaliser just before Christmas, when Luke Thomas capitalised on fatal hesitation from Barnett in the penalty area to pick out Promise Omochere.
This explains why Wrexham have not kept a clean sheet in five league outings. Despite that, they still boast the second-best defensive record in League One behind Birmingham City. However, this emerging weak spot needs to be dealt with quickly.
Attack, attack, attack
The proverbial game of two halves. A cliche but surely the best way to describe this hugely entertaining contest from a Wrexham perspective.
In an opening 45 minutes that ended with the hosts two goals ahead, Wrexham had failed to muster a shot on target from their three efforts. The Welsh club’s expected goals (xG) stood at 0.24, according to Sky Sports.
As the two teams emerged after half-time, Barnsley will no doubt have been hoping for more of the same after registering seven attempts of their own (three on target), including two clinical finishes from distance, with the quality of those strikes best illustrated by the home side’s first-half xG standing at just 0.26.
Instead, Wrexham were a team transformed. The introduction of Steven Fletcher undoubtedly helped, the in-form Scot bringing an urgency to the front line that seemed to inspire his team-mates, particularly Paul Mullin.
What followed was effectively a siege of the Barnsley goal, as Wrexham hit the crossbar, had efforts cleared off the line and came up against an inspired goalkeeper in Ben Killip.
Cleworth did halve the arrears with 10 minutes remaining, but it was not enough as Barnsley saw out a frantic finale to clinch only a third home win since February.
Parkinson, however, refused to be downhearted, pointing to the quality of his team’s attacking play during that onslaught.
“I was thinking we’d win this 3-2,” said the Wrexham manager. “Not even thinking about a draw. Just that we’d win it 3-2.”
The stats back this stance up with a whopping 17 efforts on goal for the visitors in the second half. Six of these were on target and another four blocked, Wrexham’s xG standing at 1.71. Barnsley, meanwhile, could muster just one effort after the break (which was off target) to leave manager Darrell Clarke relieved.
“It is probably the most chances we’ve given away at home all season,” he says. “They are a dangerous team.”
Yet another home victory
After seeing off relative bogey sides Blackpool and Wigan in their final two games of 2024, there was no hat-trick for Wrexham as a very unusual Football League record was preserved.
In 34 meetings with Barnsley stretching back to 1932, no away team has triumphed at either Oakwell or The Racecourse Ground. The parity between the two teams also extends to 13 home wins apiece, with Wrexham having taken all three points last month in Wales thanks to Ollie Rathbone’s 92nd-minute winner.
Defeat may have meant one record remained intact that Wrexham had hoped to break, but solace can be taken from a festive season that brought only a sixth victory over Blackpool in 38 meetings and a seventh win in 26 clashes with Wigan.
Fletcher (left) and Mullin celebrate during the victory over Blackpool last month (Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Who’s next?
Peterborough United visit the Racecourse Ground on Saturday (January 4). Kick-off is at 3pm UK time (10am ET).
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
