THE plea for mitigation was eloquently put, but Wrexham manager Denis Smith didn’t even bother to try and justify the red mist which descended on defender Steve Evans and led to his dismissal midway through the first half of Saturday’s match at Boston United.
Speaking after the 4-0 thrashing, the Dragons boss knew he could not possibly condone the violent reaction from the Welsh international following a nasty challenge by striker Drewe Broughton, nor avoid the inevitable consequences of a lengthy ban for a key member of his squad just as the League Two campaign moves into a busy Christmas programme.
Upcoming is the prospect of some difficult matches against teams – on paper at least – evidently stronger than the Pilgrims.
Instead he hinted at internal disciplinary action against Evans, who was also sent off earlier in the season during the 2-1 win at Chester City, because the dismissal after 22 minutes potentially changed the course of a game Wrexham hadn’t even got into before they found themselves at a numerical disadvantage.
“Steve has given me a big problem and I’m disappointed with him,” he said. “He was getting elbowed and knocked about, but you have to learn to deal with that.
“We will sit down on Monday and sort it out. It’s been a long hard week and unfortunately it hasn’t ended as we would have liked.”
For the sending-off to be used as the primary excuse for defeat, though, is to miss the truth that Smith’s players were already on the back foot before the sending-off.
From the first whistle, the home side were strong, physical and mean and while it was not pretty it was very effective.
And the ease with which the Dragons were unsettled and upset by their opponents’ tactics suggests that some of them need the reality check that comes from close scrutiny of the League Two table.
It’s not as though the nightmare on York Street was a one-off, reviving memories as it did of a horrendous four days back in September when Wrexham shipped 10 goals in the space of two games.
Yet the same group, who enjoyed the plaudits that came their way last weekend following an excellent FA Cup performance at Scunthorpe United, don’t appear to have grasped the time-honoured principle that a team is only as good as their last result.
Talk about deja-vu! This performance was as abject, if not worse, than those at Accrington Stanley and Stockport County for no other reason than the level of composure and the commitment on display at Glanford Park last weekend was signally absent as Boston were allowed to dictate the style and manner of the proceedings to full advantage.
And the home side’s performance says much about the collective character in their dressing room, coming as it did at the end of a week when United’s very existence had been called into doubt and no guarantees that wages will be paid at the end of the month.
The writing was on the wall as early as the 11th minute when Broughton out-jumped Shaun Pejic to direct a header into the six-yard box which should have been gathered by Mike Ingham, but his hesitancy was evident and Wrexham were fortunate to scramble the ball away.
Ingham’s dodgy start was not helped by his failure to hold Lee Canoville’s low cross a minute later, gathering the ball at the second attempt and then making a poor fist of his clearance.
So it was ironic that the Northern Ireland international almost gave the Dragons the lead in the 14th minute when his opposite number and former Racecourse favourite Andy Marriott misjudged a long clearance from the far-end penalty area and had to scamper backwards to prevent a freak goal which, already by that stage, would have come against the run of play.
Seduced into the route one style favoured by Boston, Wrexham didn’t have anyone of the stature of Broughton – on loan from Chester – to win and hold the ball, nor did they have an energetic midfielder in the mould of star man Jason Kennedy, who is another promising youngster from the Premiership academy at Middlesbrough.
The teenager was at the heart of everything for the home side and was involved in the opening goal after 21 minutes.
His pass released Canoville down the right and, with the Dragons defence stretched, his low cross was turned home from close range by Tony Elding.
Within a minute of the restart, Evans was the victim of a bad challenge from Broughton and with both men on the ground the Wrexham defender lashed out with his boot, leaving referee Dean Whitestone with little option to flash the red card, followed by a yellow for the Boston man.
The subsequent reorganisation saw Danny Williams move into the back four, with Chris Llewellyn also dropping deeper and Kevin Smith left to go it alone up front, which steadied the ship somewhat, but made life pretty easy for the home defence and it was United who went closest again four minutes before the break.
Broughton, who is quick for such a big man, broke clear and Pejic did well to keep pace, proving enough of a hindrance to deny the striker a clean shot which, nevertheless, clipped the crossbar with Ingham stranded.
Any hopes Wrexham might have entertained at the break of fighting their way back into contention proved fanciful within three minutes.
Although Broughton looked yards offside when he turned in Francis Green’s cross, but there was a spark of resistance when Smith forced Marriott into his first save of the afternoon two minutes later.
And the Dragons boss then went for broke, sending on strikers Neil Roberts and Juan Ugarte in a double-swap for Smith and the ineffective and anonymous Josh Johnson that signalled intent, but ultimately played into United’s hands.
Playing on the counter-offensive, they should have extended their lead when Kennedy fired wide with only Ingham to beat, although the sparse home crowd only had to wait until the 69th minute for something else to cheer as Broughton collected Elding’s pass to drive in his second, despite the best efforts of Danny Williams to block his shot.
And Wrexham’s humiliation was complete seven minutes from time when midfielder David Rowson was given time to cross for Elding, who steered home a fine glancing header that gave Ingham no chance.
