AT the end of a difficult week for football generally, when crowd violence reared its head in other parts of the country, an extraordinary seven days for Wrexham culminated in a peaceful and good-natured post-match pitch invasion which painted a very different picture of the true supporter.

Tribal loyalties were swapped for solidarity as the rival factions united to express their outrage that the only Football League club in North Wales is threatened with closure.

They demonstrated, too, that it's the fans who are the lifeblood of the game. Though some might not always choose to exercise their right to come through the turnstiles every week, the affinity they have with their home team is as much a source of identity and pride as it is being an integral part not merely of the local community, but of the wider football family.

And Wrexham manager Denis Smith, whose vast experience in the game has been tested to the limit in recent weeks by events both on and off the field, put into context the consequences for North Wales should the club be forced to the wall.

"It's a club well worth saving," he said. "People have to realise it's not simply about the 11 players on the pitch today and myself.

"It's about all the staff we employ and about all the teams we run, from the age of nine years old up to 19, together with the Football in the Community scheme which goes out to schools and clubs across the region.

"If Wrexham FC was not here, would it be acceptable that the only professional football in the country was all in South Wales? Would that be good for Wales as a whole?

"I don't think so, which means we've got to be saying this club and this stadium is an asset to North Wales, and everyone throughout Wales should also be saying that we need it."

Smith's Hull City counterpart Peter Taylor admitted he and his players had quickly sensed the heightened atmosphere at the Racecourse.

"We knew Wrexham are a very very good team, especially at home, and there was a bit more feeling about the place today," he said.

"But the players have got to handle that. It's part of their education and on-going careers. At sometime in the future maybe it will happen to them, but whether or not there are problems at the club we knew Wrexham would give us a difficult game.

I really hope they get themselves sorted out because it's a fantastic football club."

It was perhaps fitting that the visitors on Saturday should be Hull, a club who have come through the sort of financial crisis which currently haunts their Racecourse rivals.

And their travelling fans not only helped to swell the attendance to a respectable 5,601 - the second biggest of the season so far - they also put their hands in their pockets to help fill the buckets being hawked around the ground by Wrexham Supporters Trust. Their effort raised a one-day record of around £2,500 for their fighting fund.

Given the circumstances, it was apposite that the match turned out to be a superb advertisement for League One football and that both teams took something from a game dominated in the first half by the fired-up Dragons and thereafter by the visitors.

Wrexham could not have had a much better start after surviving a first-minute raid which produced a chance for Stuart Green, who steered a header over the crossbar.

Only 13 minutes were on the clock when goalkeeper Matt Baker launched a long free-kick downfield and Chris Armstrong's challenge did enough to upset defender Damien Delaney. The ball fell to Chris Llewellyn, who turned sharply inside his marker to crash a fierce shot into the roof of the net.

Armstrong, who had earlier missed a chance as inviting as Green's, then spun away to set up another opening, his low cross blocked at the expense of a corner before a lengthy spell of treatment for defender Andy Dawson robbed Wrexham of their momentum.

The former Spurs striker, back in action for the first time in a month, looked sharp and lively, while the return of Danny Williams alongside the equally combative Matt Crowell gave the home side an edge in the midfield battleground.

But it was the inventive Darren Ferguson who doubled the lead in the 29th minute after he picked up the ball inside the centre circle. He was allowed to run forward unchallenged, and from 25 yards curled his shot beyond goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Hull boss Taylor was distinctly unimpressed, afterwards castigating the unfortunate Delaney for both defensive lapses.

"I was disappointed with goals we conceded in the first half, which has been the story of our season," he said.

"Wrexham's first was from a long through-ball in the air and my centre-half is about 6ft 3ins, so that should have been bread and butter to him.

"But we didn't win the first header and they scored. And before the second goal we had the ball but my centre-half decided to lose it."

As the Dragons pressed forward again, Myhill denied Armstrong and Ferguson saw his first-time effort deflected off target before the visitors gave a hint of what was to come through Delroy Facey.

Only a last-ditch intervention from Dennis Lawrence denied the big striker but when a corner was delivered by Stuart Elliott nine minutes before the break, Facey saw his effort cleared off the line by Ferguson.

Unfortunately for Wrexham, defender Leon Cort was first to react and, after his shot struck the underside of the bar and bounced down, referee Andy Woolmer and his linesman both agreed it had crossed the line.

And within 10 minutes of the restart, Facey was rewarded for his energetic performance, expertly side-footing past Baker to convert a cross from substitute Roland Edge, who had been on the field just two minutes.

Both sides had chances to break the deadlock but the frenetic pace of the game took its toll in the later stages as the two sides fought each other to a standstill. Smith, after watching his players stretch their unbeaten run to six matches, was reasonably satisfied.

"It was disappointing not to get the win after the situation we were in," he said. "Normally I would expect us not to lose a two-goal lead and whether their first goal was over the line is debatable, but the referee and linesman seemed pretty sure.

"If we had gone in 2-0 at half-time I think it would have been game over but it would also be unfair to say they didn't deserve something out of the game."

Smith, who before the match had appealed for fans to vote with their feet and turn out in force, said his players had shown good character to forget about the club's problems, including the non-payment of wages.

"We've now played Hull twice this season and they've failed to beat us, so that's pleasing. The kids who played for me today were super and I could go from one to 11 and say all of them did well today."

The club's future still hangs in the balance, but the Racecourse boss said: "I think this club has got a big future provided there's somebody out there comes along and realises they don't have to put a lot of money in to make a profit and get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

"But until someone makes a bid and demonstrates they want a club here, we don't know what the future holds."

WREXHAM : Baker; Pejic, Roberts, Lawrence; Spender, Williams (Jones 88), Ferguson, Crowell, Holt; Llewellyn, Armstrong. Subs: Smith, Mackin, Sam, Evans

HULL CITY: Myhill; Lewis, Cort, Delaney, Dawson (Edge 53); Joseph, Elliott (Allsopp 68), Green, Ashbee; Facey (Price 84), Barmby. Subs: Brock, Hinds.

Referee: Andy Woolmer (Northants).

Attendance : 5,601