Take a bow Kettering Town because the sorry truth is, you really couldn't have messed things up any better if you had tried.
There are numerous areas you could look at to blame for the late capitulation.

Were they too defensive in the second half? Was Mark Cooper's decision to change to a 4-5-1 for the final 25 minutes too negative? Did he make a mistake by taking John Dempster off in the latter stages?

These are all valid questions but the most important one must surely be – what on earth was going through the players' minds in the last few minutes?


Having led through Iyseden Christie's goal, they looked comfortable. Admittedly, they were too defensive in the second period as they invited the pressure.

Maybe an 88th-minute equaliser from Patrick Suffo could have been accepted but to then fold and hand Wrexham victory on a plate in stoppage-time is bordering on unforgivable.

And the end result is that Cooper's men are moving
backwards in the Blue Square Premier.

Perhaps reality is starting to kick in? Maybe Kettering aren't as good as they thought or think?

It had all looked so encouraging for the Poppies as they grew into the game in the first period.

They had to rely on Lee Harper brilliantly tipping Nathan Woolfe's shot around the post. But from then until half-time, they were excellent.

Brett Solkhon forced Gavin Ward into a decent save with a
far-post header but their first league goal for 320 minutes arrived just before the break when Christie fired home after Exodus Geohaghon's long throw had caused chaos in the Wrexham area.

The hosts took a firm grip on things in the second period
without ever really causing the visitors too many problems.

Cooper switched to a 4-5-1 in an attempt to see the game out but his decision to take Dempster off and throw Dale Bennett on with six minutes to go proved fatal.

Almost immediately Sam Aiston's cross from the Wrexham left bounced up and hit Tommy Jaszczun's hand as he tried to clear. Substitute Suffo made no mistake from the spot.

So, 1-1 and a decent draw – you would have hoped? Instead the Poppies collapsed and Jon Brown's stoppage-time winner that also came after a cross from the left seemed almost inevitable.

Quite how a side can go from being in possession of three points to none in such a crazy few minutes is almost an unanswerable question.

If they do anything like that on Wednesday their FA Cup dreams will be well and truly ended.