Recently by Mark Currie

For the second time in three days, Wrexham's festive generosity got the better of them as they gifted a share of the spoils they had all but stashed away to opponents struggling at the wrong end of the Blue Square Premiership table.
At the Racecourse yesterday it was Woking's turn to benefit from the Dragons' lack of killer instinct - just as Barrow had done on Boxing Day - to earn what had seemed an unlikely draw.
And such was the manner of the home side's frustrating performance that visiting manager Phil Gilchrist afterwards claimed with some justification that his players were disappointed not to be travelling back to Surrey with all three points.
"We rode our luck a bit in the first half," said the Cards boss. "In the second half I felt we had by far the better chances and my boys are gutted because they feel they should have nicked it at the end.
"Whether that would have been a just result I don't really know, but they put on a good show in the second half."
It was an assessment that brought no argument from a clearly annoyed Wrexham counterpart, Dean Saunders later suggesting that his patience was being stretched to the limit by the Dragons' failure to convert more than one of the host of goal scoring opportunities they have created in the past few matches.
Just as at Holker Street earlier in the week, Wrexham were on the front foot immediately from the kick-off and went close to scoring in the third minute from the opening corner of the game.
Baynes delivered the ball at pace for skipper Ashley Westwood, who was unchallenged, but steered his header just wide of the far post. And it was the first of several half chances carved out by the Dragons as they spread the ball wide, kept possession and probed patiently.
Andy Fleming tried his luck from 25 yards, but a partial block took the sting out of his shot, Nathan Woolfe lacked composure when presented with an opening by Jefferson Louis and the big striker also glanced a header off target from a Baynes free kick.
So it was all the more surprising that the clearest opportunity of the opening 20 minutes fell to the visitors and was prompted by a hopeful ball forward from defender Danny Bunce.
Under pressure from Daniel Spence, Westwood misjudged the bounce and with goalkeeper Gavin Ward stranded in no-man's land, the defender was fortunate the Woking man toe-poked his effort high over the crossbar.
Wrexham heeded the warning and found a way through in the 24th minute, with the accuracy of Baynes from the dead ball. He swung in yet another corner to the far post where the ball was net by Marc Williams, whose downward header crept inside the upright to give the youngster his 13th goal of the season.
Woking were struggling at the back and two more Baynes corners caused problems, Fleming thumping a shot too high before Westwood too failed the hit the target with an acrobatic effort.
The visitors needed to demonstrate more ambition and with the home side playing a high line, they squandered an excellent chance to level in the 35th minute after Wilf Domoraud beat the offside trap.
Ward did well to parry his shot, but when the ball rebounded, Delano Sam-Yorke was unable to steer it into the empty net, instead firing over the bar.
In truth Wrexham were causing their own problems at the back, to say nothing of making heavy weather of killing off a very ordinary side. And another chance to extend their advantage went begging in the final minute of the first half, Louis heading straight at Simon Eastwood.
The Wrexham target man was in as enigmatic a mood as ever and fluffed another inviting opportunity as Woking came under sustained pressure from the restart.
And Jon Brown went close with two efforts in quick succession before the visitors finally got out of their own half of the field with half an hour in which to try and get back on terms
But the respite was short-lived, although the Dragons continued to be frustrated by a combination of last-ditch defending and a fine save by Eastwood to deny Flynn.
And their slender lead was emphasised when Woking substitute Goma Lambu slipped the ball through to fellow replacement Tom Denton, who really should have scored with only Ward to beat.
At the other end the visitors' goal continued to bear a charmed life with Eastwood tipping a Louis header onto the crossbar.
And the Dragons were finally caught out when both Mike Williams and Westwood inexplicably failed to clear a routine cross, allowing the unmarked Denton to slam in a 72nd minute equaliser.
Such was Denton's impact that Woking for the first time sensed that victory was there for the taking and for the firts time they began to push forward in numbers as Wrexham's play became ragged.
Ward was called upon to make another vital stop from Lambu as added time beckoned, but in the four extra minutes it was Eastwood alone who stood between the Dragons and the three points.
The young keeper saved superbly from Marc Williams before holding a fiercely struck effort to deny Nathan Fairhurst a first ever senior goal as Woking hung on to claim the reward that their dogged resistance deserved.
Man of the match: Andy Fleming - the youngster worked his socks off to give Wrexham the edge in midfield.
Wrexham: Ward 7; Baynes 6, Westwood 6, Mike Williams 6, Williamson 7; Brown 7 (Aiston 89), Fleming 9, Flynn 8 (Fairhurst 71), Woolfe 6 (Suffo 71); Louis 5, Marc Williams 7. Subs: Abbott, G Evans.
Booked Baynes, Suffo.
Woking: Eastwood; Konan, Quamina, Magunda, Bunce; Ledgister (Lambu 59), Spence, Pattison, Domoraud, Sam-Yorke (Denton 64); Kamara. Subs: Gindre, El-Kholti, Moone.
Booked Sam-Yorke, Denton, Magunda.
Referee: D S Bond.
Attendance: 4,803.

On an afternoon when they created enough chances to have won half a dozen matches, Wrexham needed a 93rd minute striker from Jefferson Louis to take a point from lowly Barrow.
The Dragons were within seconds of being undone by a Boxing Day sucker punch at Holker Street until the big striker's first-time long range effort gave them the point their performance deserved.
Goalkeeper Alan Martin was Barrow's hero with a series of stunning saves to thwart the Dragons, whose double figure strikers Louis and Marc Williams had endured an agonising afternoon after they were denied time and again in a one-sidede encounter that revived memories of the trip to Kidderminster Harriers.
But unlike Aggborough, on this occasion the Dragons avoided what seemed a probable defeat after Jason Walker struck after half an hour to put the Bluebirds ahead.
Wrexham showed only one change from the side that lined up against Eastbourne Borough last weekend with Nathan Fairhurst starting in midfield as replacement for Angelos Tsiaklis, who has returned to his home in Cyprus for family reasons.
On-loan winger Jon Brown escaped unhurt from a car crash late on Christmas Eve on his way back to North Wales following a flying visit to see his family in Cardiff.
But he was given the all-clear to continue for the visitors, who created three excellent chances in a supercharged opening five minutes.
Less than two minutes had elapsed before Louis played in Williams, whose fierce shot was parried away by Martin, and from a corner Ashley Westwood's header was held by the keeper.
Martin inexplicably miscued his clearanance and found himself stranded near the penalty spot as the ball fell to Williams whose first-time lob was too heavy and cleared the crossbar.
But the home keeper more than made amends with another fine save in the 18th minute when Nathan Woolfe showed great skill on the left before crossing for Louis whose header seemed destined for the bottom corner until Martin stretched to turn it away.
The Bluebirds, who had been given little opportunity to get beyond the halfway line, turned proceedings on their head in the 29th minute when Carlos Logan seemed to be held back in the penalty area by Sam Williamson.
Although the referee turned down the penalty claims, the Dragons defence suddenly looked vulnerable and within a minute they found themselves trailing when Jason Walker outpaced a square back four to slot the ball past Gavin Ward.
It might have got even better for Barrow had Ward not been alert to a glancing header from David Brown before Wrexham began to regain their composure, but Martin continued to defy the visitors by holding an effort from the hard-working Andy Fleming.
The home side were struggling to cope with Louis and Williams, but the youngster drove another shot at the keeper, who followed that with a one-handed save to again deny Louis.
There was no let-up from the restart, with Martin's one-man show heaping further frustration on the visitors when he spread himself wide to save from Williams at the expense of a corner from which Westwood steered a header wide.
Forced to play on the break, the home side had an opening when Paul Brown found space, but Ward was equal to his first-time effort and the action returned to the other end as Wrexham made two changes.
Ryan Flynn came on for his Dragons debut at the expense of Woolfe, while Simon Spender replaced Neil Taylor and the newcomer spurned a gift opening when a blocked Williams shot fell to him in the six-yard box, Flynn somehow firing wide of a gaping net.
It was all hands to the pumps for the home side, who simply could not win or keep possession for long enough to give their defenders any respite.
But Martin and the players in front of him stuck manfully to the task, the keeper once more proving impassable when Louis was put clear by third Dragons' substitute Patrick Suffo.
And when the keeper was at last found wanting in the 83rd minute, Williams winning an aerial battle, defender Nat Kerr was well placed to clear off the line.
But justice was done in the third minute of added time when Louis, out of nowhere, produced a moment of magic to equalise with virtually the last kick of the game
Man of the match: He missed a few chances, but Marc Williams never stopped trying.
Barrow: Martin; Kerr, Jones, McNulty, Pearson; P Brown, Joyce, Boyd, Logan; Walker (Bond 89), D Brown (Tait 85). Subs:
Booked McNulty, Boyd
Wrexham: Ward: Taylor (Spender 63), Westwood, Mike Williams, Williamson; J Brown, Fleming, Fairhurst (Suffo 74), Woolfe (Flynn 63); Louis, Marc Williams. Subs: Smith, Abbott.
Booked Taylor, Westwood
Referee: P Tierney.

Wrexham 5 Eastbourne Borough 0.

Wrexham delivered a pre-Christmas cracker at the Racecourse on Saturday and striker Marc Williams received an early present of the match ball after the first hat-trick of his professional career crowned a comprehensive demolition of visitors Eastbourne Borough.

In as complete a team performance since manager Dean Saunders arrived at the club in October, the Dragons dominated proceedings virtually from start to finish as they romped to their eighth win in nine league outings.

That run of results has owed much to the hard-working Williams, who had been restricted to a bit part by former boss Brian Little, but has since flourished under the new regime to such an extent that his nine full Blue Square outings since the managerial change have now brought nine of his 10 league goals to date.

Not since Andy Morrell - largely overlooked by a certain Brian Flynn - was given his first team chance by successor Denis Smith has a Wrexham striker made a similar overall impact in such a short space of time and the fact that Williams, with 12 goals in all competitions, is now the club's joint top scorer with Jefferson Louis, who has started almost twice as many games, augurs well for what lies ahead.

But the Wales under-21 international is determined to keep his feet on the ground. Speaking after his three-star display he said: "I just want to keep working hard and hopefully the goals will continue to come.

"I enjoy working hard because that creates chances and Jefferson and I have a good partnership going at the moment.

"If both of us can get up to 20 goals we'll be in with a good chance of promotion and if we keep winning we'll start moving up the table. It's not a competition between us, but I'm enjoying it at the moment.

"Under Brian Little I had three five minute appearances, but now I'm playing every week so we just have to stay in shape and make sure we keep getting three points."

Williams also revealed that Saunders has encouraged him to hit the 20-goal mark as quickly as possible, further evidence that the manager is no mean psychologist. His post-match assessment of Louis' performance - whose 46th minute strike was from the top drawer - was that he should have gone on to match or even surpass the Williams hat-trick.

Going on 30 years old, the 16-club journeyman has obviously mystified more mentors and exasperated even greater numbers of supporters than most players of his ilk and even though his short time at Wrexham has proved to be the most productive of his career to date, Louis remains some way short of the finished article.

A goal from nothing at Salisbury earlier in the season and the manner with which he took his latest against Eastbourne testify to a natural ability beyond coaching that is too often rendered ineffective by his inability to concentrate on the game around him.

And no matter what the Racecourse boss goes on to achieve in what is the latest stage of his football career, there was a hint in his comments that nothing would please him more than to transform Louis into the striker he yet has the capacity to be.

Nevertheless, the big man returned from a one-match suspension to cause plenty of problems for the visitors, who opted for a safety first approach on their first visit to the Racecourse. And their caution was justified as the Dragons took charge from the opening whistle, with Jon Brown prominent in a wave of enterprising play.

The on-loan Cardiff City youngster was the first to test goalkeeper Lee Hook and soon afterwards he was judged marginally offside when delivering a near post cross that Marc Williams deftly turned into the net after 15 minutes of pretty much one-way traffic.

Brown was again involved as Nathan Woolfe forced another save from the Boro keeper and it was half an hour before the visitors threatened, Gavin Ward safely gathering a Neil Jenkins free kick.

But the Dragons were well on top and kept the ball well to continue probing, Marc Pullan making a timely intervention to foil Williams before Hook was once more called into action to hold a poor effort from Louis.

The breakthrough finally came a minute before the interval when Sam Williamson did well to reach the by-line before driving a low cross into the six-yard box where Williams was first to the ball to turn it past the goalkeeper.

And the Dragons should have doubled their advantage before the break when sheer determination by Williams presented Louis with an opportunity which he spurned, his effort being parried by Hook.

But the striker more than made amends within a minute of the restart, picking up the ball 30 yards from goal and turning his marker before hammering his shot into the top corner.

Ironically, the goal spurred the visitors into their most enterprising spell of the game that short-lived though it was, probably proved pivotal to the outcome.

From the kick-off substitute Mo Harkin saw his fierce drive parried by Ward and Ashley Barnes struck the rebound against the foot of the post before the ball was hacked away to safety, giving the Dragons the chance to reassert themselves.

Andy Fleming, who is maturing with every outing, got forward to test Hook and as the home side upped the pace Woolfe saw his well-struck effort clip the crossbar. By now beginning to struggle on the heavy pitch the visitors were punished again in the 65th minute when Williams ran from deep to latch onto Neil Taylor's through ball and go round the keeper to score his second of the afternoon.

From that point on it was merely the margin of victory that was open to question and Wrexham delivered a final flourish after the 90th minute dismissal of defender Darren Baker, who was sent off following an off the ball clash with Louis.

In the four minutes of added time the Dragons made it 4-0 with a measured and classy effort from Neil Taylor and Williams put the icing on the cake when he muscled his way past a couple of tired defenders to complete his well deserved hat-trick.

Man of the match: In a five-star show from Wrexham, Marc Williams was the pick of the bunch.

Big debate: Williams or Jefferson Louis to top Wrexham's goal chart this season?

Wrexham: Ward 8; Taylor 8, Westwood 8, Mike Williams 8, Williamson 7; Brown 8, Fleming 7 (Fairhurst 69), Tsiaklis 7 (Abbott 74), Woolfe 7 (Suffo 81); Louis 7, Marc Williams 9. Subs: Kearney, C Smith.

Booked: Marc Williams.

Eastbourne Borough: Hook; Austin, Baker, Pullan, Jenkins; D Smith, Armstrong, Lovatt, Wormull (Smart 26); Goulding (Harkin 46), Barnes (Atkin 71). Subs: Harding, Crabb.

Sent off Baker; booked Barnes.

Referee: P A Davison.

Attendance: 3,463.

An erstwhile journalism colleague has not heard much of late from his 'dismal Jimmy' contacts, which is hardly surprising given the upturn in Wrexham's Blue Square Premiership fortunes in recent weeks.
Dean Saunders' Dragons made it seven wins from eight league matches with last Saturday's 2-1 success against Kettering Town to add further fuel to the feel-good factor ahead of Saturday's FA Trophy clash with Mansfield Town and the following weekend's visit to the Racecourse of Eastbourne Borough.
It's been a long time since the club's supporters have looked forward with such eager anticipation to the next match and I'm encouraged that their loyalty - in spite of the credit crunch and the added financial pressures of the festive season - has not gone un-noticed by the powers that be in the Racecourse boardroom.
Club directors generally have been guilty in the past of taking their fans for granted and, historically, that has certainly been the case at Wrexham. So it has been refreshing to see Geoff Moss & Co introduce price reductions for both of this week's home fixtures.
Not only that, the club has offered to buy a drink for each of its season ticket holders planning to attend the Eastbourne game on December 22.
The details of the offer were sent out in a letter from the club that also announced the phased introduction of an online ticket booking service, which should prove a boon to those fans often inconvenienced by a sometimes lengthy journey to the Racecourse to purchase in advance.
Taken in isolation, the measures may not add up to much in the greater scheme of things, but it's evidence that improved customer service off the field is as much a goal for the club off the field as is a swift return to the Football League on it.