Vanarama National League: Wrexham 1 Guiseley 1
GUISELEY had stopped the rot under Paul Cox with back-to-back goalless draws after Adam Lockwood’s reign had ended with three consecutive defeats, but the new boss will be so disappointed not to have banked his first win.
It looked as though the Lions would be travelling back from Wales with all three points and their first win in the Vanarama National League for almost a month after their home win against basement outfit Torquay United on August 19.
They were 1-0 up six minutes into stoppage time at the Racecourse Ground, but Wrexham snatched a last-gasp equaliser.
The Lions had taken the lead midway though the first half when Raul Corriea scored his first competitive goal for the club.
The striker, on loan from Blackpool FC for the rest of this year, netted when the Dragons' defence failed to clear a corner.
Will Hatfield sent in the initial shot, and when that took a heavy deflection, Corriea steered the loose ball past home keeper Luke Coddington.
Wrexham’s stopper is also on loan, signing for Northampton Town following his release from Huddersfield Town after they won promotion to the Premier League, and after making his debut for the Cobblers he returned to the Racecourse for a second loan spell.
Coddington had made a sharp save to deny Lee Molyneux a minute before the Lions’ goal, with the keeper getting down well to push Molyneux’s low drive from outside the area round his post.
Corriea might have doubled Guiseley’s lead early in the second half but couldn’t get any direction on his header from John Rooney’s corner.
It was a game of few clear-cut chances, but Lions keeper Joe Green made a brilliant save to keep Chris Holroyd’s header out.
Guiseley tried to run the clock down, and the vastly partisan crowd of almost 4,000 showed their displeasure every time one of the visiting players needed treatment.
Green picked up a yellow card for time wasting, and it all counted as the referee indicated a minimum of eight minutes to be added on.
Into the seventh of those minutes, the Dragons finally breached the Lions’ defence, Sam Wedgbury lashing in a shot from the edge of the area.
Cox said, “To concede so late on when Greeny hadn’t had a lot to do in terms of shot-stopping, I’m gutted.
“We all were. In fact I said to the players in the dressing room that it’s the first time in three games I’ve seen them come in and be gutted that they haven’t won an away game.
"There are things we can learn from today, and one of them is game management, especially late in the game and to see out games.
“On the plus side we had a tough game the previous Saturday and a hell of a trip on Tuesday so there were some heavy legs late on in the game and we picked up a couple of knocks, but I think we’ve come a long way in a short space of time.
“We had their supporters coming down to the dugout and laughing at us because they’d got a goal – against Guiseley!
"I said to the lads – we’ve come to a massive football club, 4,000 supporters, and they’re glad to get a home draw against us.
"I’m pleased with where we are at the minute - there’s still a lot to do but the early signs are pleasing.”
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