WREXHAM 2
Vassell 66, Ponticelli 78
DEAN Keates' faith in his Wrexham players is being rewarded, as victory against Weymouth and a third consecutive clean sheet maintained their good form in 2021.
Theo Vassell headed the Dragons in front and Jordan Ponticelli finally ended his long wait for a goal this season as Keates' men made it ten points from the last four games. That's a fantastic return and if you're thinking of having a punt on the National League check out the bet365 bonus 2021 for latest odds.
And the boss says the form is no surprise to him, insisting he never lost his belief in the squad he assembled in the summer, even after a slow start to the season.
Now Keates has urged his players to continue the momentum through to the end of the campaign now, and to ensure the good start to 2021 does not go to waste.
“There are a lot of negatives when we dip. It's not a God-given right to go and win every football match,” he said. “But I was always confident in this group. I knew it wasn't about how we started the season, but how we finished.
“We have momentum now, but it means nothing if we don't keep that going against Eastleigh on Tuesday night. That's now our biggest game of the season.
“We were a bit lethargic first-half, maybe the carry-over from a couple of long trips last week, but we were a lot better second half.
“This was the game where you look at that we needed fans, just to give us some momentum and a bit of a lift.
“We needed the lift of Theo's goal, and we needed that to get us going – you saw the confidence return after that.”
Both sides cancelled each other out for large periods of the game, though Luke Young's crossing from set pieces caused a few early scares for the Weymouth defence.
Jake McCarthy cleared one just over his own bar on ten minutes, while another cross had to be claimed under his own crossbar by Ethan Ross in the 18th minute.
Elliott Durrell then shot wide for the Reds on the half-hour and, three minutes later, Young's free-kick was parried clear at Ross' near post.
At the other end, moments later, Christian Dibble saved from Pierre Fonkeu but Weymouth's forays forward were rare as Wrexham stood firm.
The second-half needed a spark, however, and Keates made a triple substitution in a bid to find it – just moments after Dior Angus' 64th-minute shot cannoned off the bar.
And the changes worked – Jay Harris, one of the subs, won a corner and, from Jamie Reckord's cross, Vassell headed in on 67th minute.
Wrexham wanted a penalty when Reckord was tripped in the area on 76 minutes, but they were not to rue it as Ponticelli tapped in two minutes later to seal victory.
