‘No trophies’ – Wrexham boss reflects on dramatic defeat

Jenny Sugarman admitted Wrexham Women were left disappointed after a dramatic 3-2 defeat to The New Saints at The Rock Stadium.

The match swung back and forth in the closing stages, with Fiona Barry scoring either side of a Lexi Harrison goal for The New Saints.

Jodie Bartle and Natasha Thomas twice gave Wrexham a route back into the contest, with Thomas appearing to have rescued a point when she equalised in the second minute of stoppage time.

But Barry had the final say, producing a spectacular long-range strike in the fifth minute of added time to secure victory for The New Saints.

The result moves The New Saints three points clear of Wrexham at the top of the table.

Chances came at both ends as TNS took their opportunities

Wrexham created a number of opportunities during the match, while The New Saints also carried a threat on the break and ultimately proved more clinical in front of goal.

Sugarman acknowledged the contrast between the two sides’ finishing when reflecting on the result.

“I’m disappointed to lose. We hate losing,” she said to the official’s club media.

“But when I think about the first to last whistle and the number of chances we’ve created today, it’s crazy; it’s gonna be off the charts.

“The lack of conversion of those chances has really hurt us, along with some individual errors for the goals we’ve conceded.”

The New Saints goalkeeper Mackenzie Haydn-Jones made several important saves, including efforts from Wrexham during a strong start to the match.

However, TNS also had chances of their own, with Barry opening the scoring in the 18th minute before Harrison doubled the advantage shortly after half-time.

Sugarman felt Wrexham had controlled significant periods of the contest but recognised the threat posed by their opponents.

“I’ve said to our group in our huddle there, this is definitely an example of one team that takes their chances and one team that doesn’t,” she said.

“Don’t get me wrong, they created some good quality chances in the game as well.

“We spoke at half-time about the fact that we’ve been dominant, dominated territory, dominated chance creation, but they’d been dangerous.”

Wrexham twice fought back to level the contest

The two-goal deficit did not settle the contest, with Wrexham responding strongly in the second half.

Bartle headed home in the 66th minute to reduce the deficit before Thomas reacted quickest to a Maria Francis-Jones free-kick to make it 2-2 in stoppage time.

The equaliser looked to have completed a comeback, but Barry’s late intervention ensured The New Saints took all three points.

Sugarman praised the response from her players despite the eventual defeat.

“I’m pleased with the character, desire, togetherness and spirit,” she said.

“The way every single person, players and staff, were pushing to get a result at the end of the game.”

The New Saints had defended their advantage after going 2-0 ahead, before Wrexham’s pressure eventually produced two goals.

“When they went two up, what you saw from that then was obviously a huge desire to defend their lead,” Sugarman said.

“I think the way we got ourselves back in the game is the kind of fighting spirit we were so used to last season.”

The New Saints move three points clear at the top

The result gives The New Saints an important victory in the early stages of the campaign and moves them three points clear of Wrexham after five games.

For Wrexham, Sugarman believes there is plenty of time to respond, with the season still in its early stages.

“It’s a massive disappointment that although we played some really good football at times today, we’ve let ourselves down in a few individual moments,” she said.

“It’s a long season; there are no trophies handed out this week after game five.

“We know where we want to be come the end of the season.

“Sometimes you get what you need and not what you want. We’ll use this performance, this game, this result to make sure we’re better.”