You know it was a good night out when “Pete Wild’s Blue and White Army” was constantly circulating around your head the following day whilst at work. It’s not often you come away from a defeat feeling a real buzz, but right from the start of the evening the South Stand Supporter’s Club had their big blue drum banging out the tunes. It was a great atmosphere, even the Greetland Shayman was belting out a few choruses! The noise was so loud at kick off that the lid on my pre-match cup of tea was vibrating to the beat. The 307 travelling Shaymen were having a great time!
Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground is a great place to watch football under the lights. The tall floodlight pylons dominate the skyline and there’s the familiar smell of pies wafting around the top tier of the old main stand. Wrexham’s excitable young male voice choir had positioned themselves as close as possible to the Shaymen to encourage Anglo-welsh communications. They were gathered amongst the sun-bleached red seats in the university end of the ground, high up behind the goal. The rest of the top tier was full whilst the modern Mold Road stand was so well populated that the big white letters spelling Wrexham were barely visible. The old kop end lay empty and abandoned, decaying gradually with row upon row of crash barriers amongst the moss-covered terraces.
The first half was all Wrexham; the stadium was rocking as the home team dominated possession and played towards their noisy fans. It was full on defending for the Shaymen; Sam Johnson looked assured whilst Wrexham lacked the final touch. It was a good 15 minutes before the home goalkeeper had anything to do and that was only to retrieve the ball from the empty terrace behind him after a wayward attempt. As the half progressed the Shaymen got more into the game, even earning their first corner just before half time. The goalless first half was entertaining and it’s fair to say the Shaymen earned their half time cup of tea.
The second half was a complete transformation; Wrexham seemed to run out of ideas as Town began to dominate possession. Minute by minute the noise increased in the away end as the prospects of a fourth win in a row looked likely. A red card for Wrexham had the big blue drum banging even louder; there seemed to be only one winner at this stage. But a goal out of the blue for the 10 men home side generated a tremendous noise from the 5000 plus home fans. It was a real atmosphere with the South Stand Brigade continuing their vocal support for the Shaymen. As the minutes ticked by, the Shaymen pressed but in the end, time ran out. Wrexham perhaps deserved the win given their first half domination and endurance following their red card. In truth, they’ve not beaten the Shaymen in ages, and the result was well overdue.
Driving back was fun, the main road to Chester was closed and we soon found the diversion signs written in Welsh weren’t as easy to translate as we thought! Before long we were visiting the University open day car park as the rain started to fall… The views amongst the usual suspects regarding the result were diverse but we all agreed that Cameron King was by far the best player on the pitch. It’s been a great start to the season with some exciting football.
Next up we’re off back down south to one of our favourite away grounds, Aldershot’s colourful Recreation Ground. There may not be as many travelling fans there, but the away end has a wooden stand and low roof, and I’m sure we’ll all be making ourselves heard with “Pete Wild’s Blue and White Army!” We may even get another win, who knows?!
Total goals on the road 4, total miles 637 – C’mon Shaymen!
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