Wrexham’s kept the tension high in the National League title battle with an ugly 0-0 draw away to Barnet.
Fresh off the back of victory in perhaps the biggest game in the history of non-league football against title rivals Notts County, Wrexham could not maintain their momentum with a scrappy performance that saw them end the game with ten men due to a red card shown to Callum McFadzean.
Barnet, who are chasing promotion themselves, gave up plenty of possession early on in an attempt to frustrate Wrexham, with Elliott Lee’s strike ten minutes in the first real opportunity of the game.
It soon became obvious that Wrexham were in for a tough afternoon as they struggled to break down Barnet’s resolute defence, although there was a lively end to the first half as Emmanuel Fernandez saw a header deflected wide for the hosts before Andy Cannon was dealt with well on the counter.
The second half got off to a disastrous start for Wrexham as McFadzean was shown a straight red card just seven minutes in for a collision with Barnet stopper Laurie Walker. The left-back looked to leave a foot in as he lunged for the ball and didn’t help himself with what looked like a flick back at the goalkeeper as well.
Wrexham go down to 10 men as Callum McFadzean sees a straight red for this challenge on Barnet’s goalkeeper! 🟥😳@TheVanaramaNL pic.twitter.com/7mPTEARP9u
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 15, 2023
Wrexham did respond well and saw their best chance of the game as Ollie Palmer ran onto a cut-back in the box, but his effort was impressively saved.
However, reality soon set in as Wrexham realised they were vulnerable defensively, seemingly taking a step back in attack in favour of preserving a point against tricky opposition.
The visitors were holding on as the clock kept ticking and were fortunate not to concede late on as David Moyo, who had actually strayed offside to reach a cross six yards out. The Barnet man was unmarked but scuffed his strike when it looked easier to score.
Ben Foster also had to repeat his injury time heroics from Monday to save from a Nicke Kabamba header in the dying embers, with Wrexham thankful for a point on a tough afternoon.
The drama did not finish at the final whistle as Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson confronted Barnet goalkeeper Walker about the sending off and was promptly shown a red card of his own.