Conference A Gangster's Paradise?

When we got our home game against Histon called off due to international call-ups last October the rest of the Conference were unimpressed. Yet it appears to have possibly saved the Histon squad's lives.

The events which surrounded Histon's game against Lewes last September sound like something out of the Sopranos. There's something hard to grasp about a story on a Cambridgeshire villlage football team which kicks off with the club president having his car blown up.

It would seem the sort of guys you don't want to tangle with had a lot riding on that match-like so many of the recent stories about match fixing in The Conference and League Two, they're from the north west-and wanted redress. if they didn't get their £100 winnings on wasted bets, they claimed they ambush the Histon coach on its way to Wrexham and kill the squad.

It's a grim thought, and evokes memories of what happened to the Sri Lankan team coach in Pakistan. It appears criminals are targetting the lower end of professional football as the players are not well paid and therefore more susceptible to a bribe. Hopefully this illustration of what these people will do if crossed will make even the poorest of players think twice.

New Dragon Talk Podcast

There's a new Supporters Association podcast up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring a look at the politics at Lewes and the European Football Weekend website's off-beat view of our game at Lewes.

Lewes Podcast

The Supporters Association's podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Dean Saunders, Wes Baynes, Marc Williams and Lewes boss Kevin Keehan.

Wes Has Left The Doghouse!

As tales of redemption go, that was a good one! The way Dean Saunders reacted to Wes Baynes' transfer request it looked like a promising Wrexham career was over almost before it began, but the gaffer's pragmatic enough not to cut off his nose to spite his face, and he was rewarded at Lewes!

Wes Baynes is not only back in the fold, but he's a match winner! His prodigious set piece delivery has already been valuable to us this season, but to hit his first goal of the season just days after coming off the list...for it to be a screamer...for it to secure a win in a tough away game. Mustn't grumble!

It certainly made the long journey home seem palatable, although the bloke opposite me on the train is talking to himself a little more than I'm comfortable with, to be honest!

So far so good!

A fortnight ago I felt so proud of myself when I booked a train ticket to Lewes-I didn't imagine for a second you could make it down there and back in a day by rail! For the last week I've not been feeling half as clever though!

The weather of the last week left me assuming the game would be off, and there was no way I'd get a refund on my train ticket just because a football match had been called off-I found that out the hard way at the Ebbsfleet game!

Still, at the moment the signs are good, thanks to a combination of geological and meteorlogical good fortune-Geraint sent me a text at 815 to say the pitch was ok. Let's hope it stays that way, and the trains arrive on time! With only Crawley of the teams above us playing today, and they're only above us because their points deduction has gone to appeal, here's hoping we can get a win today and make an impact on the table.

A Strangely Empty Feeling

Am I spoilt already? Four league wins on the spin and I'm sated enough to feel a little disappointed by a comfortable home win!

Beating Lewes 2-0 was a bit like beating Kerry Catona in an elocution contest. It was no more than what was expected, and perhaps we should have done better. After all, we failed to score past them in open play, and I'll bet not many sides can say that so far this season!

Not that we didn't have the opportunities of course. Marc Williams was named sponsors' man of the match, and I could certainly see why; again he was tremendously enthusiastic and difficult to handle, and Dean Saunders rightly praised him afterwards. However, if his decision-making had been a bit better in the last twenty minutes, as ten-man Lewes folded, we might have got six!

Saunders' decision to throw three men up front when Lewes switched to three at the back should have been rewarded with at least a couple of extra goals, so forgive me for my mixed feelings. It wasn't the most fluent performance; if we'd played like we did against York we'd have got a cricket score. But we did create chances, and it was a win. Whether it represented a first faltering step forwards after the Eastwood fiascos or was merely an indication of how poor Lewes are we might discover on Tuesday.

Lewes Podcast

The Lewes podcast is now up at www.wrexhamfan.co.uk featuring Dean Saunders, Shaun Whalley and Dean Saunders.