29 March 2024 , 18:01
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Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has said his side were “due” a decision to go in their favour after a contentious penalty call in their 2-0 win over promotion rivals Mansfield.
The Welsh side powered their bid for successive promotions with a dominant victory at the Racecourse. After a difficult opening half-hour amid volatile conditions, striker Paul Mullin put Wrexham into the lead as he swept home Andy Cannon’s well-worked cross, registering his 17th league goal of the campaign and his 98th in his Wrexham career.
Mansfield’s Aaron Lewis saw an effort to equalise whistle wide before the interval, but it wasn’t until substitute James Gale fizzed a shot towards Arthur Okonkwo’s bottom corner at the start of the second-half that the visitors registered a shot on target, evidence of Nigel Clough’s side inability to threaten amid a hard-working Wrexham display.
And shortly after Davis Keillor-Davis saw his goal disallowed after he nicked the ball off Okonkwo on the edge of the box, Wrexham’s Luke Bolton was chopped down on the edge of Mansfield’s area to earn the hosts a crucial penalty which Mullin dispatched with ease. Yet, replays of the penalty show that Bolton was taken out outside the box.
“The harder you work, the luckier you get,” Parkinson said afterwards when asked about the decision. “We worked so hard today. I haven’t completely seen the penalty decision back but listen, I think we were due one of those. We haven’t had one in a while and some you get, some you don’t. We’ve got that one today.
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“I’m sure Nigel when he looks at it might be disappointed but over the course of the season, we’ve been saying as a staff that we’ve been due for something to go for us because we had the last two home games here where we’ve absolutely dominated teams and nothing fell for us so we were due one.”
Paul Mullin scored from the spot as Wrexham claimed a 2-0 win over Mansfield (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)Wrexham remain third in League Two, yet level on points with Mansfield and one point off leaders Stockport, who tout a game in hand. Mullin's brace not only put Wrexham into a promising position as they enter the final six matches of the season but saw the striker register his 98th and 99th goals of his Wrexham career. And Parkinson noted the importance of experienced heads such as Mullin and James McClean in the final stages.
"James McClean in particular, the bigger the game, the better he plays and Mulls as well, he’s another example," Parkinson said.
"The finishing line is getting closer and they can smell that sweet smell of hopefully success, we know there’s work to be done. The lads are relishing it and they should, we’ve worked hard to get into the top three and we’ve got six games to go, it’s about staying there."
Wrexham return to action on Tuesday when they face 15th-placed Doncaster Rovers.
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