Wrexham Vs Portsmouth: wrexham vs portsmouth ends 2-1 as Sam Smith and Max Cleworth steer Red Dragons to victory

wrexham vs portsmouth finished 2-1 after Sam Smith and Max Cleworth gave the home side a first-half cushion and Portsmouth rallied in the second half. The result tightens Wrexham's hold on a play-off place and came after the hosts battled illness in the days before the match.

Phil Parkinson details sickness bug and Sam Smith's struggle

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said his squad had been hit by a sickness bug in the lead-up to the hard-fought victory and that energy levels were down. He warned that players were "not quite at your best" and that the group had "a bit of illness in the camp over the last few days" but that the team "dug deep. "

Sam Smith was named among those affected, was "struggling at half-time" and was unable to complete the game. Parkinson singled him out for praise, saying "Sam was really good in that first half" and recalling he told Smith, "Come on, Sam, another 15 minutes. " Parkinson called Smith's opener "a real old-fashioned striker's header, a great finish. "

Wrexham Vs Portsmouth: first-half headers at the Racecourse Ground / Stok Cae Ras

The match at the Racecourse Ground — also referenced as Stok Cae Ras — swung in Wrexham's favour in the first half. After George Dobson had fired wide in the first minute, Smith opened the scoring after 23 minutes, leaping to head home from a Callum Doyle cross.

Smith then went close with a long-range strike that goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid turned over. From the resulting corner, Max Cleworth rose to turn in Dobson's cross and double Wrexham's lead; both opening goals were headed finishes.

Pompey fightback, Zak Swanson and second-half pressure

Pompey rallied after the interval. Zak Swanson had curled an effort wide before the break and then pulled one back in the 49th minute, latching onto Regan Poole's pass to beat Arthur Okonkwo with a shot that took a deflection off Callum Doyle.

The visitors dominated much of the second half and won a series of corners as Wrexham struggled to get out of their own half, but they were unable to find an equaliser despite applying considerable pressure. The reviewing commentary called the defeat "one game too far" for Portsmouth, noting they were dominant for much of the second half but struggled to carve Wrexham open and had once again failed to defend a near-post corner.

Portsmouth squad issues and context of the run

The match came amid calls about Portsmouth's squad fitness and depth: losing John Swift to a hamstring injury was described as a blow, though Conor Chaplin is fit again. Observers noted that a run of games was always likely to challenge Pompey's thin squad and that, while they could not match a previous 90-minute performance at Millwall in this game, the team "remains in a decent place. " The bottom of the table was said to be chaotic and things could change quickly; the assessment finished with the line that "keep playing as they have been and Pompey should survive. "

Late Wrexham chances, season picture and FA Cup tie against Chelsea

Wrexham held firm despite late pressure; Oliver Rathbone hit a post and George Thomason tested Nicolas Schmid in a late flurry, but the hosts had already done enough. The victory continued Wrexham's push for a fourth successive promotion and tightened their grip on the top six or play-off places.

That momentum followed a frenetic 5-3 victory over promotion rivals Ipswich, and attention now turns to an FA Cup tie against Chelsea to come. Mario Melchiot, Archie Rhind-Tutt and Jermaine Beckford reacted to the FA Cup fifth-round draw that paired Chelsea away to Wrexham.

Match incidents and individual moments

Other notable moments included Pompey's Millenic Alli putting in a couple of dangerous low crosses and Gustavo Caballero having a shot blocked before leading another charge that broke down on the edge of the area. Josh Windass dragged a shot wide from distance during Wrexham's period of control. The sequence of events—early Dobson chance, Smith's 23rd-minute header, Cleworth's corner finish, Swanson's 49th-minute reply—shaped a game Wrexham described as one they had to "find a way to win. " Parkinson summed up: "I thought we were excellent first half. We really bossed the game. Second half we didn't quite get the control we wanted but sometimes football is about finding a way to win and we've done that really well. "

wrexham vs portsmouth will be remembered for those first-half set-piece finishes and for Wrexham doing enough to tighten their hold on a play-off spot despite illness in the camp.