Soccer

Birmingham take point at Wrexham as ‘Hollywood derby’ ends in stalemate

Ollie Rathbone’s strike for the hosts was cancelled out when Lyndon Dykes’ header went in off Wrexham midfielder George Dobson.

Alfie May celebrates his side’s equaliser
Alfie May celebrates his side’s equaliser (Nick Potts/PA)
By Phil Medlicott, PA

Birmingham moved three points clear at the top of League One after battling to a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.

Ollie Rathbone’s fine ninth-minute strike for the hosts was cancelled out nine minutes later when Lyndon Dykes’ header went in off Wrexham midfielder George Dobson.

Wrexham’s bid for a winner after the break included headers from James McClean and substitute Steven Fletcher being kept out by Ryan Allsop as Birmingham held out for a point.

Chris Davies’ men go three clear of second-placed Wycombe with a game in hand ahead of the Chairboys hosting Northampton on Saturday, while Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham are two points further back in third, having played two more games than the leaders.

While the clash had been dubbed the ‘Hollywood derby’ on account of the celebrities involved at each club, neither actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham’s co-owners, nor seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, Birmingham’s minority owner, were in attendance.

Blues’ American chairman Tom Wagner was present, among the fans in the away section, while the Wrexham box included members of the Allyn family from New York, who had become minority investors in the club in October.

Reynolds had emphasised ahead of the game his and McElhenney’s desire to beat Brady as their teams went head-to-head again, with Birmingham having won the previous meeting 3-1 at St Andrew’s in September.

That contest saw Wrexham go in front early on, and they did so again as Ollie Palmer challenged Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Rathbone picked up the ball, advanced towards the box and curled a beauty from around 20 yards past Allsop and into the bottom corner.

It brought a huge roar around the ground, but Birmingham were swiftly level when Marc Leonard’s corner was headed goalwards by Dykes at the back post, with the ball going in via Dobson’s back.

Entertainment was then somewhat lacking for the remainder of the first half in which Alfie May and Dykes made unsuccessful attempts on goal for Birmingham and Rathbone fired over just prior to the interval.

Dobson then brought a save out of Allsop early in the second half, before the Birmingham goalkeeper tipped a Ryan Barnett cross over the bar, then did well to parry McClean’s header from the resulting corner.

Lyndon Dykes scores Birmingham’s first goal of the game (Nick Potts)
Lyndon Dykes scores Birmingham’s first goal of the game (Nick Potts) (Nick Potts/PA)

After Arthur Okonkwo dealt with a firm hit from May at the other end, Wrexham went back on the attack, with a deflected Paul Mullin effort looping onto the roof of net and fellow substitute Fletcher seeing a header parried by Allsop.

The Welsh side continued to push late on but to no avail, while Gardner-Hickman sent a shot wide in stoppage time as points were shared.