Forthcoming Fixtures

MCFC Reserves  3 - 3 WAFC Reserves

Wednesday 23rd Septemper 12 o'clock  noon Kick Off

With the Manchester Senior Cup game being postponed and the uncertainty of next week's Premier Reserve league game happening on its scheduled date due to Liverpool's Champions League commitments the need to arrange a game for Roque Santa Cruz and Michael Johnson was quite important and so due to Mark Hughes' close links with Dean Saunders it was a logical solution to arranging a game at quite short notice.

City's goals came from Jack Redshaw and a brace from young Slovakian Robbie Mak who also set the other goal up as well. As the scoreline shows however City did not have it all their own way as Wrexham certainly gave City a good game.

City opened the scoring in the twelfth minute when Santa Cruz laid off a good pass for the marauding Mak to set off to get round the defence on the left hand side and he powered into the area and drove a fierce left footed shot past the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the goal.

City had their chances but either put the ball high or wide of the target or the goalkeeper was able to make a reasonable save. So it was no surprise to see that Wrexham get back into the game with twenty three minutes gone when they allowed ex-Mansfield player Simon Brown to get in between our two centre-half's and score a fine strike past Tobias Johansen in the goal.

Five minutes later and that levelling goal suddenly became a lead taking position when the cross came in from their right and there was Senegalese and former Leeds striker Lamine Sakho to put the ball past Johansen with a free header.

Three minutes after the break after City had made changes due to Santa Cruz and Johnson only appearing for the first forty five minutes they fell behind further; this time to City's former academy player Adrian Cieslwicz who got in behind the defence, on their left, who were all over the pace; but despite great effort from Mak to get back and put a good block in; Adrian was able to hit the rebound through past Johansen who had left an open goal.

The game was generally the Robbie Mak show as he tormented both their fullbacks in the first half and their left back in the second half. It was his determined run down the right as he left the tackles in fresh air and skipped into the area and down to the by-line and cut the ball back for Jack Redshaw to side foot the ball into the goal.

City finally saved their blushes with twenty minutes remaining when again Mak made a great solo run on the right and into the box before firing a low hard shot from a tight angle past the goalkeeper and into the back of the goal.

City and Wrexham clearly have a few links as they now have five former City players in their ranks and with the Welsh connection with Saunders and Hughes I am sure that the reserves and academy players will continue to have strong links between both clubs.

City: Johansen(GK), Kay, Cunningham, Smith, Boyata, Ibrahim, Mak, Johnson(Mitchell 46), Redshaw(Poole 57), Santa Cruz(Benali 46), Helan(Moore 57)

Subs: David Gonzales Giraldo(GK)