FA Trophy Final match report

FA Trophy: Grimsby beaten by wily Wrexham

Wrexham faced off against Grimsby in the FA trophy final at Wembley.

Nerves were wracked for the first fifteen minutes, as both teams tried not to concede early, instead preferring the long ball approach.

Wrexham had the best of the first few exchanges, pressuring Grimsby back into their half, with Jay Harris rifling his shot just over the crossbar in the 20th minute.

They continued to press Grimsby with Kevin Thornton impressing for Wrexham in central midfield, spraying balls out to the flanks well.

Harris then scuffed his shot wide in the 27th minute, after a great spell for Wrexham.

Grimsby finally managed to get a chance in the 38th minute with Aswad Thomas getting down the byline and past two players, but he overran his last touch and the chance was  snuffed out.

Perhaps sensing the danger, Wrexham doubled their efforts to score with a free-kick from Dean Keates that left James McKeown scrambling in the Grimsby goal.

After the restart, Wrexham nearly opened the scoring with Andy Morrell put through. The advancing McKeown slipped but recovered brilliantly to make a double save to keep Grimsby in the game.

Grimsby showed why they got to the final, choosing to soak up the pressure and hit Wrexham on the counter and this tactic nearly paid off in the 56th minute with Andy Cook coming close, with his shot just wide.

With 30 minutes to go, both managers decided to make a change, with Ross Hannah off for Andi Thanoj and Andy Morell coming off for the fresh legs of Adrian Cieslewicz.

Suddenly, the game opened up and Andy Cook was released by Joe Colbeck. His first shot was smothered by the legs of Chris Maxwell but he smashed his second shot emphatically over the line to leave Grimsby with one hand on the FA Trophy.

Wrexham made another substitution, with Danny Wright off for Robert Ogleby.

As the situation turned desperate for Wrexham, a darting run in the box by Dean Keates drew two desperate challenges from the Grimsby backline and Jonathan Moss had no choice but to point at the spot.

Kevin Thornton stepped up and dispatched the penalty to break Grimsby hearts and level the tie at one apiece with 10 minutes to go.

Extra time beckoned and there was another substitution from both teams with Marcus Marshall off for Richard Brodie and Joe Clarke replacing Kevin Thornton for Wrexham.

Sure enough, the 90 minutes ended with nothing to separate the two teams.

The first half of extra-time was quiet, until a thunderous volley from Cieslewicz from 25 yards out drew another outstanding save from McKeown.         

The second half saw Wrexham in the ascendency, with three great chances to kill the tie, but the inspired McKeown yet again kept the wolves at bay.

 There was only one way this tie would be decided and penalties were soon on the agenda.

With the penalties to be taken at the Wrexham end, the vocal Welsh support acted as a 12th man and Grimsby fell to pieces missing their first two spot kicks. Johnny Hunt dispatched the  deciding penalty to send the Wrexham fans into raptures and the FA Trophy back to Wales.

MOM: James McKeown