Wrexham 4-1 Barrow: Steven Fletcher treble sparks comeback win for Dragons - BBC Sport
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Wrexham 4-1 Barrow: Steven Fletcher treble sparks comeback win for Dragons

Last updated on .From the section League Twocomments157

Steven Fletcher's back-post header from a corner gave Wrexham a 3-1 lead over Barrow at half-time
Steven Fletcher's back-post header from a corner gave Wrexham a 3-1 lead over Barrow at half-time

Steven Fletcher's hat-trick saw Wrexham beat Barrow in a thrilling third versus fourth clash at the Stok Racecourse.

Barrow stunned the hosts by scoring in the first minute when Kian Spence turned home Elliot Newby's low cross.

Just before half-time, Fletcher played a one-two with Paul Mullin to level, before Mullin's free-kick and a Fletcher header made it 3-1 to Wrexham.

Fletcher sealed the result with his first Wrexham hat-trick, nodding in Anthony Forde's cross.

Dean Campbell did cannon a shot off the Wrexham post in the closing moments, but it would only have been a small consolation for the visitors.

Barrow had lost David Worrall with a quarter of the match played, the midfielder being taken off on a stretcher after a nasty clash of heads, with Luca Stephenson replacing him.

That saw a mammoth 14 minutes of time added on to the end of the first half, during which Wrexham cut loose with those three goals in a five-minute spell.

Barrow remain fourth, but are now four points behind third-placed Wrexham, who themselves are two points behind League Two leaders Stockport County after they lost 2-0 at home to second placed Mansfield Town.

Wrexham assistant manager Steve Parkin said:

"It wasn't a great start obviously, playing against a team who are certainly near the top of the league on merit.

"So we were delighted to get in at half-time in front; we needed a goal to give us a spark... and towards the ned of the first half when we got the goals I always felt were were going to come on strong.

"It's great for him (Steven Fletcher), he's had a long and illustrious career, been a top player and got off to a great start here and then sadly had that knee injury that held him back for three or four weeks... and today he showed what a good player he is."

Line-ups

Wrexham

Formation 5-3-2

  • 33Okonkwo
  • 14Forde
  • 32Cleworth
  • 4Tozer
  • 22O'ConnorSubstituted forBoyleat 90+10'minutes
  • 23McCleanBooked at 45minsSubstituted forMendyat 70'minutes
  • 20CannonSubstituted forJonesat 78'minutes
  • 12Evans
  • 38LeeSubstituted forDaviesat 87'minutes
  • 10MullinSubstituted forBarnettat 90+7'minutes
  • 26FletcherSubstituted forDalbyat 70'minutes

Substitutes

  • 7Davies
  • 18Dalby
  • 19Mendy
  • 21Howard
  • 25Boyle
  • 29Barnett
  • 30Jones

Barrow

Formation 3-5-2

  • 1Farman
  • 17Chester
  • 5RayBooked at 90mins
  • 6Canavan
  • 7WorrallSubstituted forStephensonat 21'minutesSubstituted forOgungboat 57'minutes
  • 8SpenceBooked at 77minsSubstituted forTelfordat 81'minutes
  • 13WhiteBooked at 45mins
  • 16Foley
  • 11Newby
  • 20AcquahSubstituted forProctorat 72'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 34WhitfieldSubstituted forCampbellat 72'minutes

Substitutes

  • 3Ogungbo
  • 4Campbell
  • 9Proctor
  • 12Lillis
  • 18Stephenson
  • 19Telford
Referee:
Scott Oldham
Attendance:
12,323

Match Stats

Home TeamWrexhamAway TeamBarrow
Possession
Home59%
Away41%
Shots
Home16
Away7
Shots on Target
Home10
Away3
Corners
Home3
Away0
Fouls
Home12
Away14

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Wrexham 4, Barrow 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Wrexham 4, Barrow 1.

  3. Booking

    George Ray (Barrow) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  4. Post update

    Ryan Barnett (Wrexham) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  5. Post update

    Foul by George Ray (Barrow).

  6. Substitution

    Substitution, Wrexham. William Boyle replaces Thomas O'Connor.

  7. Post update

    Attempt missed. Elliot Newby (Barrow) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Sam Foley.

  8. Post update

    James Jones (Wrexham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Dominic Telford (Barrow).

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Wrexham. Ryan Barnett replaces Paul Mullin.

  11. Booking

    Jamie Proctor (Barrow) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  12. Post update

    Jordan Davies (Wrexham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Jamie Proctor (Barrow).

  14. Post update

    Attempt saved. Anthony Forde (Wrexham) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Sam Dalby.

  15. Post update

    Dean Campbell (Barrow) hits the right post with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Dominic Telford.

  16. Post update

    Corner, Wrexham. Conceded by Paul Farman.

  17. Post update

    Attempt saved. Anthony Forde (Wrexham) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Anthony Forde (Wrexham) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Paul Mullin with a cross.

  19. Post update

    Foul by Jordan Davies (Wrexham).

  20. Post update

    Sam Foley (Barrow) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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Comments

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157 comments

  • Comment posted by iforhaul, at 18:00 1 Jan

    Classy performance today, great reaction after Walsall loss. Good turnout from the barrow family, best wishes to your two players carried off. Up the Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  • Comment posted by richard morris, at 17:21 1 Jan

    Excellent result. Looks very good for Wrexham. Pray for injury free second half to the season

  • Comment posted by nigel bluebird, at 19:24 1 Jan

    All the best to Wrexham from the boys down south CCFC

    • Reply posted by thedebonair, at 23:11 1 Jan

      thedebonair replied:
      Nice comment, I remember going to watch Wales playing Belgium in 89 maybe 90 at Anderlecht Cardiff and Newport fans were in the top tier and Swansea and Wrexham fans in the lower, the top tier were singing South Wales, how the times have changed. Good on you.

  • Comment posted by Luke McCarry, at 17:38 1 Jan

    Really happy with that Win against a strong defensive club. It helps GD in the table for later. Great that Stockport are beatable too. Happy New Year. More of this stuff please Wrexham!

    • Reply posted by Petruchio, at 17:47 1 Jan

      Petruchio replied:
      Stockport 2 pts ahead, but Wrexham have a game in hand (and Mansfield have 2). The rest of this season could be a blinder. Up The Town...and HNY to you too.

  • Comment posted by its only money, at 17:37 1 Jan

    Business as usual
    Very good points return over Xmas
    Looking good in Sunny Wrexham
    Welsh dragons on Fire

  • Comment posted by True Shrew, at 17:42 1 Jan

    Excellent win Wrexham fans, with us also winning for a change today it sets up next weeks FA Cup match perfectly.
    Hopefully we'll be playing each other in League One next season, if we can stay up.

    • Reply posted by Neil, at 19:45 1 Jan

      Neil replied:
      Thanks, looking forward to a great game of football, all the best from a Wrexham fan

  • Comment posted by D1707838872461, at 17:38 1 Jan

    I think Fletcher just shifted Parky’s transfer priorities to the defensive end of the pitch! It looks like the surgery was what he needed.

    • Reply posted by Weird Superman, at 18:07 1 Jan

      Weird Superman replied:
      'Parky' 😬

  • Comment posted by Anonymous, at 17:25 1 Jan

    Brilliant win! Also Mansfield won 2-0 at Stockport, not 1-0 as stated above

    • Reply posted by john, at 18:51 1 Jan

      john replied:
      And the stags are going up

  • Comment posted by beatles63, at 17:21 1 Jan

    Normal service resumed for the Welsh Dragons !

    • Reply posted by playerandref1964-1991, at 18:21 1 Jan

      playerandref1964-1991 replied:
      Too true . No red card (again) for McClean. Two bad fouls = 1 yellow card? mmm...

  • Comment posted by Neil, at 18:04 1 Jan

    Barrow were set up well and we struggled to break their defence down first half. Unfortunate injury for them and hope he is okay 🙏 After tjat we seemed to wake up and it all chamged after great strike ftom Fletcher. Game over by 70mins and positioned well in the table. Some interesting rivalry ahead with Stockport Mansfield and Notts.

    • Reply posted by playerandref1964-1991, at 18:25 1 Jan

      playerandref1964-1991 replied:
      Not set up too well according to Bluebirds fans.

  • Comment posted by sayitagainsam, at 19:25 1 Jan

    Its all ifs or buts but no injury to the Barrow player down for about 10mins the first half could of easily ended with Barrow 1-0 up, saying that Wrexham had a 5min mad spell and it was really game over, Barrow very poor up front and can see them falling out of the top 7 but done ok up to now.

    • Reply posted by andyg, at 20:07 1 Jan

      andyg replied:
      It's all about resources and finance. Good luck to Wrexham in the sense that they are using their finances well and getting the best players (particularly forwards) for this division. Barrow can afford what they can afford & we are well aware a top quality forward will, more often than not, come our way. Think we are doing brilliantly with the team we have got.

  • Comment posted by Fat Evil Buddha, at 19:03 1 Jan

    Shoddy journalism, 'Paul Fletcher's back-post header' 🙄

    BBC standard 😆

  • Comment posted by keithrjones, at 17:16 1 Jan

    Barrow came, they scored, they were torpedoed. Up the Town!

  • Comment posted by Stefan, at 18:48 1 Jan

    Good comeback from Wrexham. Out of the top teams in league two they play the most attractive football. I think Stockport will fade away because they're one dimensional so see Wrexham or Mansfield winning league two.

    • Reply posted by john, at 18:55 1 Jan

      john replied:
      Mansfied for the title to much strength in the team we can bring 4 or 5 first teamers off the bench and with flinty at back with Cargill solid as a rock

  • Comment posted by andyg, at 18:18 1 Jan

    I suppose this was a reality check for us (Barrow of course). But a lot of this matched hinged on how McClean managed to stay on the pitch and our mad 5 minutes in first half injury time. We probably are punching above our weight. wish we cut have the quality of forwards Wrexham, Stockport & Mansfield have but we never will (unless someone else from Hollywood takes a liking to us! Ha Ha)

    • Reply posted by jonnybanana, at 18:20 1 Jan

      jonnybanana replied:
      Maybe you shouldn't time waste so much.

  • Comment posted by Gareth, at 19:36 1 Jan

    Very good result for us. But that doesn't show the quality of Barrow. There's a long way to go and not much between the top 6. Think we should be looking to move on Palmer, Young, McFadz, MacAl waters & possibly one of the CBs to free up space. Palmer and Young still have a lot to offer for me but if not in plans then don't hang about. Arthur and a CM in Jan pls. Dalby L2 loan to get him scoring.

  • Comment posted by John, at 17:45 1 Jan

    Report posted that quick missed Mansfield second goal. Perhaps don't reference other games until they finished.

    • Reply posted by keithrjones, at 17:53 1 Jan

      keithrjones replied:
      Or just click the hyperlink to get to read the report of the other game

  • Comment posted by dave61, at 23:36 1 Jan

    EFL highlights programme on ITV for Leagues 1 and 2 is a disgrace.Just a few seconds for each match-no discussion or comments.The male presenter is very poor-not much knowledge or interest in the two divisions.

  • Comment posted by exxyeddie, at 11:58 2 Jan

    Obviously, to be honest with you, I’m not going to lie…..Obviously!
    These are the words of Steven Fletcher. Obviously!
    Well, I’m not going to lie am I?

  • Comment posted by Mr Kipling, at 17:21 1 Jan

    Cream rising to the top. QED.

    • Reply posted by playerandref1964-1991, at 18:19 1 Jan

      playerandref1964-1991 replied:
      Yes Walsall are rising very nicely , scored 9 in two games.

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Stockport26156553262751
2Mansfield241310144192549
3Wrexham25147452361649
4Barrow25129437241345
5Notts County26133105547842
6Crewe2511864739841
7Wimbledon25109641281339
8MK Dons2411673931839
9Accrington26115104036438
10Gillingham25122112130-938
11Walsall2510693936