EXETER CITY 0
WREXHAM 2
Rathbone 23, Rodriguez 60 (pen)
Veteran Jay Rodriguez took the plaudits after his penalty sealed victory for Wrexham against Exeter City in this League One affair.
Ollie Rathbone’s deflected strike put the visitors ahead in the first half.
Rodriguez sealed the deal from the spot after the break as Wrexham secured a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Afterwards, the frontman received praise from his manager, Phil Parkinson.
Quality
“Jay is a very experienced player and in and out of possession he has real quality,” Parkinson said.
“He won and scored the penalty for us, and that was important as we haven’t had many this season.
“I felt we had two really big games against Wycombe and Stockport, and coming here today was not going to be easy against a side that can be difficult to play against.
“But it was a comfortable win in the end.
“I am really pleased with how we performed all round.
“We knew that they were going to be a big threat from set plays coming into the game.
“They have a lot of height in their team, and we worked on it all wee,k and I thought we defended really well.
“We then got into some good positions when we had the ball and the moment came with Ollie’s strike, which took a big deflection port when we had good chances to.
“But we got it today and that gave us that cushion.”
Match action
Wrexham started well with a Ryan Longman cross falling for Rathbone, and his shot appeared to hit the back of a team-mate.
Little really happened until the 23rd minute when Wrexham went in front.
Rathbone tried his luck from distance, and the ball took a huge deflection off an Exeter defender and into the net, leaving goalkeeper Joe Whitworth stranded.
Exeter fought back with Joel Colwill and Alex Hartridge seeing shots blocked.
But that was as good as it got for Gary Caldwell’s side, who were poor in the final third.
The Welsh side were always in control of proceedings.
Just before the hour mark, Wrexham were awarded a penalty when Jack McMillan tripped Rodriguez in the box.
Former England international Rodriguez dusted himself off before smashing the ball down the middle of the goal.
Substitute Steven Fletcher almost made it 3-0, but fired at Whitworth and he then headed over the bar as the Red Dragons created all the chances.
Commitment
Defeat ended a six match unbeaten run for Exeter and Caldwell was frustrated to come out on the wrong end of what he felt was a 50-50 game.
He said: “Wrexham do simple things really well.
“They have a group of men on the pitch that know what it takes to win at this level – and the levels above – with the likes of Rodriguez and Fletcher, who I played with when he was at Hibs,” Caldwell said.
“I can’t fault the effort of the players.
“But I thought we had moments where we got into good areas, but we didn’t commit.
“We didn’t go past our men, and I need more commitment in those moments.
“I am always disappointed to lose, but I think the way we set the team up was giving them some problems.”
Player ratings
Exeter City: Whitworth 6, McMillan 5, Turns 6, MacDonald 6, Hartridge 6, Purrington 6 (Francis 66, 6), Jones 5 (Watts 77, 6), Trevitt 6, Colwill 6 (Cole 66, 6), Yogane 5 (Harper 67, 6), Magennis 6 (Cox 78, 6). Subs not used: Niskanen, MacDonald.
Wrexham: Okonkwo 7, Cleworth 8, O’Connell 8, Brunt 8, Longman 7 (Barnett 82), Dobson 7, James 6, Rathbone 8, McClean 7, Rodriguez 8 (Fletcher 72, 6), Smith 6 (Lee 87). Subs not used: Howard, Revan, Scarr, Marriott.
Cardiff City
Omer Riza is proud of his Cardiff City troops
Championship
OLIVER’S SET FOR BIG STEP
