Wrexham 1
(Lennon, 4′)
United 1
(Lemonheigh-Evans, 84′)
United sealed a share of the points at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday, as Connor Lemonheigh-Evans secured his side a 1-1 draw at Wrexham.
For a long period, it looked as though Harry Lennon’s early opener would be enough to secure all three points for the hosts in front of their Hollywood owners, however a determined fightback in the second period saw The Gulls earn themselves a fully-deserved point through their own Welsh wizard, as Lemonheigh-Evans levelled things up late on.
Boss Gary Johnson named the same side that secured the 2-0 win over King’s Lynn last weekend, with the only amendments coming on the bench, as Tom Lapslie, Ali Omar and new signing Byron Moore took their places amongst the substitutes, replacing Jake Andrews, Keelan O’Connell and Gabby Rogers.
The afternoon couldn’t have started worse for Johnson’s charges.
With the attendance of their high-profile co-chairmen swelling the home side’s support to capacity, a long throw from Ben Tozer in the 4th minute found Lennon in space inside the box to follow the script and put the Red Dragons in front.
For a spell thereafter, Torquay were forced to soak up a fair amount of pressure, with a number of penetrative runs from left-winger Liam McAlinden keeping the visiting backline busy, with Harry Perritt and Joe Lewis forced to come up with a couple of timely interventions to the keep the deficit at a minimum.
Having fallen behind following a throw, Johnson’s charges nearly drew level in similar fashion just short of the half-hour, as Dean Moxey’s deep delivery found Lewis at the near-post, however on this occasion the defender’s back-header landed on the roof of the net.
There was a scare for the travelling Yellow Army at the other end moments later though, as Jordan Ponticelli latched onto a knock-down from Tozer inside the six yard box, however Shaun MacDonald was well placed to gather the forward’s flick with the minimum of fuss.
On 34 minutes, Lemonheigh-Evans nearly produced a blockbuster finish to restore parity before the break, however despite showing admirable skill to work himself into shooting range on the edge of the penalty area, his searing shot was just too high to trouble home goalkeeper Rob Lainton.
Despite enjoying the bulk of possession, a lack of cutting edge from Wrexham, combined with some composed defending from United, saw no change to the scoreline at the break.
After the change of ends however, it was Johnson’s men who looked the more threatening, and they could have pulled level six minutes after the restart, as Armani Little’s curled cross found the rising Klaidi Lolos, who headed just over the crossbar.
After a number of other dangerous deliveries into the Wrexham box went unrewarded, a bold triple substitution saw the introduction of Lapslie, Alex Addai and Moore – the latter for his debut, as The Gulls began to turn the screw.
With twelve minutes remaining, a cross from Addai so nearly brought its reward, as it found fellow replacement Moore, however again the header was off-target.
Just as it appeared time was beginning to work against them, United’s best move of the match paid off handsomely.
Chiori Johnson, who had battled away all afternoon, found some rare space down the right wing. Seizing upon the opportunity, he produced an inch-perfect cross into the box which took out the Wrexham backline, but not the gambling Lemonheigh-Evans, who stooped to steer home a powerful A-lister of a header to make it 1-1.
It was no more than they deserved.
In the time that was left, both sides went in search of a winner, however neither goal went seriously under threat, as the referee eventually brought play to a close in front of the frustrated home contingent, with United’s loyal band of supporters left to celebrate a job well done.
Wrexham: 1. Rob Lainton, 3. Jamie Reckord, 5. Aaron Hayden, 6. Ben Tozer (c), 7. Jordan Davies, 11. Liam McAlinden, 15. Tyler French, 17. Byrce Hosannah (12. Dan Jarvis, 80′), 19. Jordan Ponticelli (20. Dior Angus, 75′), 26. Harry Lennon, 30. James Jones (8. Luke Young, 88′).
SUBS NOT USED: 21. Christian Dibble (GK), 4. Shaun Brisley.
Yellow Cards: Lennon, 48′, Lainton, 58′
TUFC: 37. Shaun MacDonald, 2. Ben Wynter, 7. Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, 10. Armani Little (c), 14. Chiori Johnson, 15. Harry Perritt (4. Tom Lapslie, 57′), 19. Klaidi Lolos (27. Byron Moore, 61′), 21. Dean Moxey, 25. Sinclair Armstrong, 30. Dan Holman (24. Alex Addai, 73′), 31. Joe Lewis.
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Mark Halstead (GK), 5. Ali Omar.
Yellow Cards: Perritt, 54′, Moxey, 90+4′
Attendance: 9,813 (242 away)