Wrexham 4-1 Crawley Town: Phil Parkinson's side bolster promotion hopes with emphatic win - BBC Sport
League Two
WrexhamWrexham4CrawleyCrawley Town1

Wrexham 4-1 Crawley Town: Phil Parkinson's side bolster promotion hopes with emphatic win

Paul Mullin celebrates his second goal
Striker Paul Mullin has scored 102 goals for Wrexham

Wrexham strengthened their League Two automatic promotion hopes with an emphatic victory over Crawley Town.

Ryan Barnett and Paul Mullin struck in the first half for Wrexham before Andy Cannon put the result beyond doubt 14 minutes from time.

Striker Mullin then claimed his second goal of the night as Phil Parkinson's men earned all three points in comfortable fashion.

Klaidi Lolos' injury-time effort proved only to be a consolation for Crawley.

Wrexham, who are guaranteed a play-off place, stay second in the table but move five points clear of MK Dons in fourth.

It means Wrexham will be promoted on Saturday if they beat Forest Green Rovers and MK Dons and Barrow fail to win against Mansfield Town and Gillingham respectively on the same day.

Defeat leaves Crawley seventh, three points clear of both Wimbledon and Walsall.

On the back of four consecutive away wins - a run which has featured 13 goals scored - Crawley started on the front foot in north Wales, but their early hope was abruptly extinguished as Parkinson's side struck twice in two minutes.

Elliot Lee's deep, teasing cross was met by Barnett who bundled home at the back post.

Defender Barnett then played a pivotal role in a fine team move that ended with Cannon picking out Mullin, who tapped in from close range.

Jay Williams and Laurence Maguire had efforts for Crawley while Cannon went close to extending the home side's lead before eventually finding the target.

Cannon lashed home after Lee's effort was saved in the 76th minute before Mullin bagged his second six minutes later, with Lolos' last-gasp goal doing little to dampen the home side's spirits.

Wrexham assistant boss Steve Parkin:

"We worked long and hard on Crawley about how good they are away from home, we certainly respected the players they've got and the way they've been playing.

"We thought we would create chances on the break, you have to be clinical, and it was a really clinical performance I thought.

"I'm delighted for the players as a whole. We just need to make sure that we recover, rest up and be ready to go for the weekend."

Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey:

"I'm just disappointed with the outcome, but it won't define our season.

"We've been fanatstic of late, it's a tough place to come.

"We found it difficult, certainly in four moments for sure. We never really asked many questions of them, but it is what it is, we'll get ready for the next game."

Line-ups

Wrexham

Formation 5-3-2

  • 33Okonkwo
  • 29BarnettSubstituted forBoltonat 84'minutesBooked at 90mins
  • 32Cleworth
  • 15O'Connell
  • 22O'Connor
  • 23McClean
  • 20CannonSubstituted forDaviesat 82'minutes
  • 12Evans
  • 38Lee
  • 9PalmerSubstituted forFletcherat 75'minutes
  • 10MullinSubstituted forMarriottat 84'minutes

Substitutes

  • 3McFadzean
  • 4Tozer
  • 7Davies
  • 11Marriott
  • 17Bolton
  • 21Howard
  • 26Fletcher

Crawley

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 1Addai
  • 30Wright
  • 3Conroy
  • 6MaguireBooked at 31mins
  • 2GordonSubstituted forAdeyemoat 60'minutes
  • 26WilliamsSubstituted forKellyat 51'minutes
  • 19KellySubstituted forRolesat 70'minutes
  • 25TsaroullaSubstituted forForsterat 59'minutes
  • 10Darcy
  • 8Lolos
  • 9OrsiSubstituted forCampbellat 70'minutes

Substitutes

  • 4Kelly
  • 11Roles
  • 13Sandford
  • 14Forster
  • 20Mukena
  • 22Adeyemo
  • 28Campbell
Referee:
Edward Duckworth
Attendance:
11,544

Match Stats

Home TeamWrexhamAway TeamCrawley
Possession
Home33%
Away67%
Shots
Home15
Away15
Shots on Target
Home7
Away8
Corners
Home5
Away9
Fouls
Home6
Away6

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Wrexham 4, Crawley Town 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Wrexham 4, Crawley Town 1.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Crawley Town. Conceded by Luke Bolton.

  4. Booking

    Luke Bolton (Wrexham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  5. Post update

    Harry Forster (Crawley Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Luke Bolton (Wrexham).

  7. Post update

    Will Wright (Crawley Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Steven Fletcher (Wrexham).

  9. Goal!

    Goal! Wrexham 4, Crawley Town 1. Klaidi Lolos (Crawley Town) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jack Roles with a cross following a corner.

  10. Post update

    Corner, Crawley Town. Conceded by Arthur Okonkwo.

  11. Post update

    Attempt saved. Ronan Darcy (Crawley Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Liam Kelly.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Wrexham. Conceded by Will Wright.

  13. Post update

    Attempt missed. Klaidi Lolos (Crawley Town) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Ade Adeyemo.

  14. Post update

    Corner, Wrexham. Conceded by Will Wright.

  15. Post update

    Attempt saved. Ronan Darcy (Crawley Town) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Wrexham. Jack Marriott replaces Paul Mullin.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, Wrexham. Luke Bolton replaces Ryan Barnett.

  18. Goal!

    Goal! Wrexham 4, Crawley Town 0. Paul Mullin (Wrexham) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, Wrexham. Jordan Davies replaces Andrew Cannon.

  20. Post update

    Offside, Crawley Town. Harry Forster is caught offside.

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Stockport422411784424283
2Wrexham4323101078512779
3Mansfield422113881433876
4MK Dons432281373571674
5Crewe4319131168581070
6Barrow4118131057451267
7Crawley42205176661565
8Wimbledon4316141355441162
9Walsall421711146361262
10Doncaster42187175963-461
11Harrogate431710165360-761
12Morecambe43179176374-1160
13Gillingham43179174053-1360
14Bradford421512155054-457
15Notts County42167198379455
16Newport43167206069-955
17Accrington42159185660-454
18Tranmere43156226163-251
19Swindon421311187074-450
20Salford431211206278-1647
21Grimsby42916175270-1843
22Sutton United43912225176-2539
23Colchester41911215272-2038
24Forest Green4399254171-3036
View full League Two table

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