Wrexham’s wait for a first home win in the second tier for 43 years will go on after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham at the Racecourse.
George Dobson headed the Red Dragons in front inside the first 15 minutes of a first half they dominated, but Patrick Roberts struck just 20 seconds after the restart to ensure the points were shared in the game dubbed ‘The Hollywood Derby’.
Without Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, or Birmingham shareholder Tom Brady, in attendance, there was an absence of the usual glitz off the pitch – and a cagey first 10 minutes suggested the action would follow suit.
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George Dobson’s header put Wrexham ahead
Fortunately, it soon sparked into life. Max Cleworth won a corner, then rose to head the subsequently delivery goalwards, before Dobson ghosted in to nod it beyond James Beadle.
But for Beadle, it might have been two just over five minutes later, when Marc Leonard gifted the ball to Lewis O’Brien, but the England U21 goalkeeper produced a strong save to keep out the shot that followed.
Leonard and Demarai Gray tested Arthur at the other end, but the Blues racked up an xG figure of just 0.33 by the break.
But whatever Birmingham boss Chris Davies said to his players at half-time worked a treat. Jay Stansfield reacted to a poor clearance by Dobson, drove on and located Roberts, who darted into a gap between Wrexham’s central defenders, collected the ball and rolls the equaliser into the bottom-right corner.
In truth, that took the sting out of the game and, after the goal, neither side hit a single shot on target.
But the first meeting between the two sides in League One last season produced the same scoreline, before Birmingham won the return fixture 3-2. They go again at St Andrew’s on April 11, when much more could well be on the line.
The managers
Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson:
To follow…
Birmingham’s Chris Davies:
To follow…
