MATCH PREVIEW - WREXHAM (A) - Boreham Wood Football Club Official Website

Wrexham v Boreham Wood
Saturday 12th February 2022, KO 3.00pm
Racecourse Ground, Buildbase FA Trophy 5th Round

THE CONTEXT

This Saturday, Wood return to FA Trophy action to take on Wrexham, looking to build on the historic weekend that saw them reach the FA Cup Fifth Round.

The Dragons have enjoyed a free scoring run to the 5th Round, putting ten goals past Gloucester City and Folkestone Invicta with 5-0 and 5-1 wins in the previous two stages respectively.

Wood will be full of confidence and have momentum on our side after shocking the nation with victory at promotion-chasing Championship side AFC Bournemouth, and will be keen to get another win to build on the triumphs over Barnet and Maidstone United in the previous rounds of the competition.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

“THE DESTROYER”
BEN TOZER

A Plymouth Argyle academy product, Ben Tozer began his professional career with Swindon Town after following former Argyle youth coach David Byrne to the Wiltshire club. He made his senior debut at the start of the 2007/08 season as a makeshift left back and started a four-day trial with Everton three months later, departing the County Ground to join Newcastle United in January 2008.

He played just once during his time on Tyneside in a League Cup match with Peterborough United and struggled to break into the first team, spending his final season with the Magpies out on loan. An initial one-month loan deal with Northampton Town was extended twice with the defender remaining with the Cobblers until the end of the season, going on to make 31 appearances during 2010/11. He signed a permanent deal following his release from Newcastle and enjoyed a successful four further years at the Sixfields Stadium, playing 142 times for the club that saw him named Northampton Player of the Month for February in 2012/13 and again for January in 2013/14, the latter coming after a brief loan stint away at Colchester United.

He showed versatility throughout his time at Northampton and featured predominantly at right back after the arrival of Chris Wilder, but soon his playing time was reduced and he left at the end of 2014/15. A season at Yeovil Town was followed by spells with Newport County and Cheltenham Town, helping the latter to the League Two play-off semi-finals where they were defeated by his former club Northampton. They made amends a year later when the Robins lifted the League Two title with Tozer winning the Supporters’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards, before he dropped into the National League to join Wrexham in the summer.

“THE PLAYMAKER”
JORDAN DAVIES

Wrexham-born midfielder Jordan Davies joined the Club’s academy system at a young age and worked his way up the ranks, eventually being named on the bench for the first time at the age of 18 after a successful loan spell with Bangor City. He remained an unused substitute however as a fee had already been agreed ahead of a move to Brighton & Hove Albion, with the deal being completed a couple of days later and putting a first senior appearance for his hometown club on hold.

He made his reserve team debut against Middlesbrough and became an integral part of the Seagulls’ Under-23’s promotion-winning campaign to the Premier League 2 in 2018, as well as being handed starts in the EFL Trophy where he scored once in six appearances in the competition during both 2018/19 and 2019/20. With interest around the youngster beginning to hot up, Davies departed the South Coast without a first team appearance for Brighton, opting to re-join Wrexham despite interest and trials from a plethora of EFL clubs.

He made his debut at the start of the 2020/21 campaign, going on score eight times in 38 games including a first half hat-trick in a 4-0 win over FC Halifax Town. A successful maiden campaign in the Wrexham first team came to an end with Davies being voted the club’s Young Player of the Season.

“THE FINISHER”
PAUL MULLIN

Born on Merseyside, Paul Mullin spent time in the academies of both Everton and Liverpool before making the move to Huddersfield Town. He impressed at Under-18 and Under-21 levels but was released by the Terriers at the end of the 2013/14 season after a brief loan spell with Vauxhall Motors, joining Morecambe on a short-term deal.

He made his professional debut in August 2014 as a substitute in a League Cup defeat to Bradford City and scored his first professional goal just days later in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Newport County, with Mullin’s strike proving to be the winner. He earned his first start in professional football and began to develop a reputation for taking any opportunity presented to him, scoring three goals in his first seven games which resulted in a new three-year deal. He would make a total of 122 appearances for the Shrimpers with 25 goals helping them avoid the drop out of the Football League, but he left in 2017.

Spells with Swindon Town and Tranmere Rovers followed, helping the latter achieve back-to-back promotions to League One before a temporary move away, joining Cambridge United on a six-month loan deal in February 2020. He made the move permanent the following summer and began to explode during the 2020/21 season, with Mullin breaking David Crown’s record of the most league goals by a Cambridge player in a single season when he took his tally up to 25 in a victory over Carlisle United. He would go on be awarded League Two Player of the Season as well as winning the Golden Boot, with his eventual 32 goals being a record number for the division since its rebranding in 2004. Despite his form helping the U’s win promotion to League One, Mullin opted to drop down a division ahead of the 2021/22 campaign, joining Wrexham on a three-year deal. He won the National League Player of the Month award for November and has notched 11 goals so far this season.

LAST TIME WE MET

Boreham Wood 2-3 Wrexham
Saturday 15th May 2021
LV Bet Stadium Meadow Park, Vanarama National League

Wrexham overcame a two-goal deficit in the first half to beat Boreham Wood to move into the National League play-off places.

It was a dominant first half display from the Wood, who created numerous chances to open the scoring. Some excellent interplay between Corey Whitely and Keiran Murtagh led to an opportunity for Jamal Fyfield after just eight minutes, before a fabulous defence-splitting pass by Murtagh picked out Kabongo Tshimanga shortly after with the striker hitting his effort wide. Wood took a deserved lead after 18 minutes when Femi Ilesanmi’s cross was well-finished by Kane Smith. The Wood doubled their lead on the stroke of half time when another excellent Murtagh pass found Tshimanga, who outmuscled the Wrexham defender before finishing past Rob Lainton.

The Welsh side began to improve after the interval though with the introductions of Jordan Ponticelli and Dan Jarvis, and they controlled much of the second half. Although the hosts initially restricted their opponents to efforts from distance, Wrexham continued to pile the pressure on and halved the deficit on the hour-mark through Reece Hall-Johnson. The Dragons were afforded a pathway back into the game with 16 minutes to go when Tom Champion saw red for a second yellow card, and the visitors soon took advantage. With the Wood camped in their own penalty area as they defended against the waves of attacks thrown forward, they were unable to hold out for long as an excellent back post header from Ponticelli drew the away side level with just a few minutes remaining. It then went from bad to worse as Hall-Johnson rose highest to head home his second of the day right at the death, ensuring Wrexham returned to North Wales with all three points.