WREXHAM found themselves victims of the luck of the Irish last night when opponents Cliftonville hung on grimly to claim a goalless draw in Newcastle.

The Dragons hit the woodwork on no newer than four occasions during the course of the match and also missed a number of decent scoring opportunities at Donard Park.

But although the Dragons were unable to finish their five-day trip to Northern Ireland on a winning note, the match proved to be another ideal workout for manager Denis Smith and his players.

And there was some good news too, from new Wrexham owner Geoff Moss who flew to the province yesterday to watch the game accompanied by new Racecourse chief executive Anthony Fair-clough.

He told Smith that the club's much delayed exit from administration should be done and dusted by the end of this week.

With Shaun Pejic and Mark Jones ruled out by injuryand illness respectively, the last thing Smith needed was to lose another member of his squad.

But Matty Crowell managed only nine minutes before suffering adead leg and had to be replaced by Trinidad triallist Joe Johnson.

Cliftonville, who finished fourth in their league last season, matched the visitors for much of the first half but found it difficult to create any genuine chances against a Wrexham defence in which teenager Gareth Evans was an impressive performer.

Meanwhile the Dragons enjoyed no luck at all as they controlled long spells of the game.

Cliftonville defender BarryHolland made afine tackle in the fourth minute to deny Neil Roberts a run on goal, and the striker was only inches away from connecting with a Danny Williams header soon afterwards.

The Welsh side, with Matty Done and Johnson showing strongly on both flanks, continued to press and from a 37th-minute corner Steve Evans saw his header ricochet off the outside of a post.

Then Cliftonville's goal survived again right at the end of the half, when a 25-yarder from Danny Williams struck the crossbar.

More opportunities went begging from the restart, Roberts mis-kicking in front of goal before both Steve Evans and Done were denied by goalkeeper John Connolly.

When Wrexham began making changes, Johnson was pushed up front alongside the hard-working Chris Llewellyn after Darren Ferguson replaced Roberts.

It was past the hour mark before Cliftonville threatened to break the deadlock, defender Ronan Scannell venturing forward to drive a shot across the face of the goal.

But the majority of the goalmouth action was at the other end, and Cliftonville survived once more when

Llewellyn's fierce effort found a post for the second time and another Evans' header from Ferguson's corner came back off the bar.

WREXHAM: Jones, Spender, G Evans, S Evans, Valentine (Mike Williams 59), Mackin, D Williams, Crowell (Johnson, 9), Done, Llewellyn, Roberts (Ferguson 59).