Wanderers’ hopes of another trip to Wembley in the Vertu Trophy were ended at the quarter-final stage for the second season running, writes Pete Oliver.
A second-half strike from Wrexham midfielder Andy Cannon was enough for the Welshmen to book a home tie against Peterborough United in the last four.
Steven Schumacher’s men more than matched their League One rivals - beaten at homer only once in the last 11 months - as they tried to set up the possibility of a repeat of their 2023 triumph in the competition.
But after a dominant opening spell the Whites lacked the cutting edge to keep their Trophy run going and after seeing a late John McAtee effort hit a post must now concentrate their efforts on a potential route to Wembley in the play-offs with everything still to play for in their League One campaign.
Through a combination of choice and necessity, Schumacher made seven changes to the side which had started Saturday’s last-gasp win over Crawley as Wanderers looked to go one better than last season’s last-eight exit at Blackpool.
But it was still a powerful line-up which looked to overcome a Wrexham side playing their first quarter-final in the competition since winning it in 2005.
And Wanderers had the better of the first half on the Whites’ first visit to the Racecourse Ground since a victory in May, 1988 which sealed their promotion from the bottom division.
That had been secured by a single goal and it looked as though one goal might be enough here as Wanderers made the only clear-cut chances on offer as they controlled the opening 45 minutes for lengthy spells and carried a regular threat from set-pieces.
Klaidi Lolos saw a volley blocked and Eoin Toal wasn’t far off with a header from Josh Sheehan deliveries. And it was Wales international Sheehan who went closest to breaking the deadlock just before the interval after making space for a low drive well saved at full stretch by Arthur Okonkwo, who had earlier also made a decent block from Josh Dacres-Cogley.
The momentum stayed with Wanderers after the break with Gethin Jones almost picking out Klaidi Lolos for a chance superbly snuffed out by Wrexham defender Lewis Brunt.
It was the Whites asking most of the questions at that point and with half an hour to go before a possible penalty shoot-out, Schumacher looked to press home the advantage by sending on John McAtee and the fit-again Aaron Collins.
Wrexham had their own big guns on the bench, however, and former Bolton boss Phil Parkinson wasn’t long in following suit with a quadruple change including the introduction of transfer window signings Jay Rodriguez and Sam Smith in a new front pairing as the home side began to exert some authority.
The next effort came from Wanderers with McAtee rattling a shot into the side netting but with 20 minutes to go it was Wrexham who grabbed the winner as Andy Cannon picked the ball up in the middle of the park and worked an opening to fire home off the inside of a post from 25 yards out.
Schumacher sent on Saturday’s star Jordi Osei-Tutu and gave a late debut to B Team forward Ben Andreucci to try and find an equaliser and despite lacking their earlier zest with a minute to go they almost got it when Collins slipped in McAtee for an angled shot he sent against the foot of the far post.
It was therefore only inches between the Whites and the prospect of penalties and Schumacher’s men will be hoping they come out on the right side of the margins when they return to North Wales in the league in less than three weeks’ time with arguably more at stake.
Wanderers: Baxter; Toal, Forrester (Andreucci 83), Johnston; Jones, Sheehan, Thomason, Dacres-Cogley; Matete (Collins 57), Lolos (McAtee 57); Adeboyejo (Osei-Tutu 71). Substitutes: Southwood, Inwood, Sharples.
Booked: Sheehan, Dacres-Cogley, Collins, Johnston
Wrexham: Okonkwo; Brunt, Scarr, O'Connor; Evans; Longman (Barnett 64), Cannon (Cleworth 87), Lee (Rathbone 64), Revan; Marriott (Smith 64), Faal (Rodriguez 64). Substitutes: McNicholas, Mendy.
Booked: Cannon
Referee: Ross Joyce
Attendance: 7,591 (1,269)