By Paul Jones
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has insisted his team have lived up to their billing after they earned their first victory of the season.
Parkinson watched his Dragons hammer Walsall 4-2 at the Racecourse Ground as they claimed their first win at Football League level since 2008.
It was earned after goals from Will Boyle, Ollie Palmer, Jake Bickerstaff and Elliot Lee as Wrexham went 2-0 ahead, were pegged back, but recovered to lead 4-1 before Walsall grabbed a late consolation.
“I’m very pleased,” said Parkinson, who had overseen a defeat and a draw in his opening two League Two matches.
“I thought it was a very good performance. We controlled long periods of the game, our passing was crisp, our movement was good and there was a nice balance about us.
“I felt it was a night when a lot of our key players stood up to the plate. It was important we stood up as a team and got our first league win of the season.
“It was a really good night for us. It was another cracking atmosphere here and the lads thrived on that.
“It was a proper man’s performance from Will Boyle and then Ollie (Palmer) an audacious finish. I’m so pleased for Jake Bickerstaff and Elliott (Lee) capped off a performance of high quality.”
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Wrexham raced into a two goal lead with goals from Boyle and Palmer before the Saddlers halved the deficit with Chris Hussey’s first for the Club.
Bickerstaff and Lee made sure of the points in the second half for Wrexham.
An Anthony Forde own goal in added time saw the visitors add a second.
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Walsall manager Mat Sadler highlighted his frustration, saying: “I think with the first goal we usually have a shape that we’re good at keeping. We weren’t high enough in the box or tight enough.
“The second goal is one of those moments where a mistake happens, they do happen and you’re hoping to get a little bit of luck. It’s a fantastic finish and then you’re up against it.”
“I thought we showed a lot of resilience in that 40 minutes then to get ourselves back into it.
“But in the key moments, we just fell short. I think it was a foul before the third goal, but we still have an opportunity to deal with that, so it’s frustrating.
“The big thing for me is working together now, we’re back to it, back to the work. They’re a bunch that are invested in what we want to do here.
“We have to work out ways of being on the right side of results, that requires a little bit of nouse and experience so we can learn from tonight.”
In his post-match press conference, Phil Parkinson issued a squad update.
“James McClean went into a block tackle at the end of the game and opened his knee up. He went to have a scan on Sunday, it’s not serious but it’s going to keep him out for a couple of weeks." 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Xzi6qUZFTd
— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) August 15, 2023