Coventry 3-4 Wrexham: National League side cause HUGE upset to dump Sky Blues out of FA Cup

Long before the football started and Wrexham picked up a touch for giant-killing which they had lost somewhere along the way since Mickey Thomas did the job against Arsenal 31 years ago, a tweet told a story about shifting fortunes in football.

Wrexham’s Hollywood owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds were alerting the vast numbers who follow them to the ESPN transmission of this match, available to viewers from Sydney to Los Angeles and all points in between. It goes without saying that a bitter night in the east Midlands would not have gone global before McElhenney and Reynolds arrived with their documentary crews and their imagination.

For their own part, Coventry began this day with conjecture about who will want to own them and where they might after eviction at the end of the season from this stadium, which is now a possession of Mike Ashley.

Wrexham have caused a huge upset in the FA Cup and will now advance to the fourth round

It out to be a night of FA Cup and documentary gold, with defensive weakness, occasional attacking inspiration and a breathless finale which had this stadium bouncing and served as yet another day reminder of the precious quality of Third Round weekend.

The driver of one of the nine coaches which rolled up from North Wales told passengers they would leave ‘15 minutes after we’ve won.’ The 4,000 away contingent, whose ticket allocation had sold out within minutes, outnumbered and out-sang those whose home this is for now.

The revival of their town by McElhenney and Reynolds, portrayed so in their vivid first series of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary, made this a Championship v League One match-up in many ways, not a tie between two clubs 60 places and three divisions apart. One of their signings from the third tier, Ollie Palmer, started the game on the bench. Another, Paul Mullin, swapped placed with him 20 minutes from time, and yet Wrexham still carved the Coventry defence to shreds.

Their two goals in six minutes early on set the tone. The first was carved out by one of those who has been a part of the entire journey, captain Luke Young whose characteristically accurate free kick allowed striker Sam Dalby to get between the central defenders and head it home.

Sam Dalby opened the scoring for Wrexham when he rose highest to head a cross home

Elliott Lee doubled the lead with a hopeful cross from the left which sailed past goalkeeper Simon Moore, one of eight seconds string players Robins had fielded, who should have dealt with it. Coventry’s vulnerability and fragility, as they aimlessly sacrificed possession, called manager Mark Robins’ decision to field a weakened side into question. It was 33 years to the day since he had scored Manchester United’s legendary in the Third Round away win at Nottingham Forest. He knows the value of progression.

His side did come back into the game with a counter-attacking pace which troubled Wrexham and their defence, which has a tendency to look vulnerable when central pillar Aaron Hayden is missing. Kasey Palmer, the former Chelsea player, was excellent – striking a free kick against the base of the post before delivering a cross which Martyn Waghorn’s touch set up Ben Sheaf to crash home and pull a goal back.

But Wrexham extended their lead just before the interval when Ben Tozer’s long throw, nodded back across the box by Ryan Tunicliffe, reached O’Connor, who leapt to head in.

Thomas O’Connor restored Wrexham’s two goal advantage when he made it 3-1 for his side

Tozer’s long throws, a major part of their armoury under manager Phil Parkinson, caused panic and presaged a penalty which seemed to have put the tie of sight at 4-1, when Max Cleworth struck at a loose ball which Jonathan Panzon deliberately handled and was so sent off. Mullin converted from the spot.

But then Wrexham’s own defensive failings allowed Coventry back in, to make create a thrilling finish. Palmer was integral to two goals in seven minutes. He delivered a cross from which substitute Viktor Gyokeres – who was a real handful – scored with no-one in the Wrexham box picking him up. Then Palmer won a free kick which he arced in, with goalkeeper Mark Howard rooted to the spot.

Coventry drove hard for an equaliser, with Howard palming over from Todd Kane at the death but Wrexham saw the night through. From LA to Sydney and all points in between, it was well worth the watch.

Wrexham managed to hold on after Coventry made it 4-3 and climbed back into the game