Report: United 1 Wrexham 3

A youthful-looking Reds side, barring the exception of the experienced Jonny Evans, lined up to face the League Two outfit in California. 

First-half goals from Elliot Lee and Aaron Hayden put our opponents in the driving seat, with Marc Jurado pulling one back for us just before the interval.

United battled for much of the second half with a player less, following a 47th-minute red card shown to Dan Gore, but the Wrexham did get on the scoresheet again, with Sam Dalby finding the net just over 20 minutes from full-time.

FIRST HALF – ADVANTAGE WREXHAM

United’s youthful XI settled into the game, enjoying plenty of possession in the opening half against our Welsh opponents. 

Despite seeing plenty of the ball, the Reds struggled to create any clear-cut chances on Ben Foster’s goal. Wrexham had a similar fate in the opening stages of the half, and were forced to withdraw talisman Paul Mullin following a rough collision with Nathan Bishop. 

After a lengthy stop in play, Wrexham began to find their feet and formulated the first effort of the game, as Lee fizzed an effort towards goal, but Bishop was equal to it. 

The League Two side soon found the breakthrough just minutes later, though. A direct move ended in a dinked ball into the box from Liam McAlinden, finished off by Lee who got the better of Bishop on this occasion. 

We surged forward in search of an immediate equaliser and almost found it through Isak Hansen-Aaroen, but the young Norwegian couldn’t quite take advantage of Foster off his line, planting his effort wide of the mark. 

10 minutes before the interval, Wrexham struck again. A long throw into the box was nodded on by Max Cleworth and subsequently finished off by Hayden, who rose tallest in a crowded box to double their advantage. 

Our young Reds continued to dominate possession, and in stoppage time we were rewarded for our efforts to get back into the game. A full-back to full-back move saw Fernandez lift a wonderfully weighted cross into the far post, where the onrushing Jurado side-footed home to halve the deficit heading into the second 45. 

SECOND HALF – VITAL EXPERIENCE GAINED

The second 45 began at an entirely different pace to the first, with Reds midfielder Dan Gore shown a red card just two minutes after the restart, for a challenge that was judged to be late by the referee.

Understandably, the sending off made for a tougher challenge for the United players, but our young side continued to battle and show spirit nonetheless.

Our opponents did score their third of the game with 30 minutes to go however, as substitutes Jacob Mendy and Dalby combined. The former dinked the ball into the box, with the latter stooping low to head beyond Radek Vitek.

 

Mendy continued to wreak havoc down the left-hand side, and came close to setting up his second of the evening near the end, but Billy Waters’s eventual effort was blocked. 

A testing outing for our young Reds came to an end shortly after, with a 3-1 loss confirmed, but the evening included plenty of invaluable learning that will no doubt stand them in good stead going forward.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Bishop (Vitek 45); Jurado, Fish, Evans (Kambwala 74), Fernandez; Collyer (Aljofree 59), Gore; Shoretire (Mejia 68), Hannibal, Hansen-Aaroen (Oyedele 59); Hugill (McNeill 68). 

Unused substitutes: Harrison, Mee, Pye. 

Goal: Jurado 45+5.

Wrexham: Foster (Lainton 45); Forde (Barnett 45), Hayden (Hosannah 45), Tozer (O’Connell 45), Cleworth (Boyle 45), McFadzean (Mendy 45); McAlinden (Jones 45), O’Connor (Cannon 45), Lee (Davies 45); Palmer (Dalby 45), Mullin (Waters 19). 

Goals: Lee 29, Hayden 36, Dalby 69.

Yellow cards: McFadzean 45, Waters 65.