Wrexham boosted their chances of reaching the Championship play-offs by beating Welsh rivals Swansea 2-0.
In front of Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds, who were on Sky Sports co-commentary duty alongside David Prutton at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham now have a six-point cushion in the top six ahead of the weekend’s Championship action.
But Swansea had the better of the first half and should have taken the lead. Goncalo Franco had a decent chance inside the opening 40 seconds but fired straight at Arthur Okonkwo as the chance opened up for him.
The visitors’ best chance though came from the league’s top scorer Zan Vupovnik, who was played through by Franco but could only fire at the Wrexham goalkeeper in a one-on-one.
That missed chance proved crucial as Nathan Broadhead slotted the hosts in front moments later after a lovely pass from Callum Doyle in the penalty area.
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Nathan Broadhead slots in after a lovely pass to give Wrexham the lead against Swansea.
Wrexham should have doubled their lead with the last kick of the first half as Doyle nodded a late corner over from close range, but Swansea came out firing in the second period.
They had a strong case for a penalty when Franco went down under Dom Hyam’s clumsy challenge, which went unpunished. Marko Stamenić forced Okonkwo into a good save before Malick Yalcouye fired a couple of decent chances wide.
Wrexham then felt aggrieved with the referee as Josh Tymon appeared to handle the ball as last man, which denied Josh Windass a clear and obvious goalscoring chance. But the Swansea defender was only booked for his call.
But Wrexham sealed the win as Doyle headed in a free-kick, which took a wicked deflection off Liam Cullen, before nestling into the net.
It was a win that strengthened Wrexham’s play-off credentials, and damaged their Welsh neighbours’ hopes in the process.
The managers
Wrexham’s Phil Parkinson:
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Swansea’s Vitor Matos:
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