Wrexham have missed out on a place in the EFL Trophy final after defeat to Peterborough United at the STōK Cae Ras on Wednesday night.
Wrexham were hoping to secure a first return to Wembley since the FA Trophy defeat to Bromley in 2022.
Wednesday’s clash with Peterborough United offered Wrexham a chance to meet Birmingham City in the final.
Wrexham went into the game as favourites with Peterborough struggling in League One this season and a passage to the final appeared to be on the cards.
Phil Parkinson’s side took a 2-0 lead into the half-time break as Modou Faal and George Dobson found the net.
Wrexham fans may have been tempted to start booking Wembley hotels on their phones from inside the STōK Cae Ras, but the second half became a disaster.
Darren Ferguson on Wrexham frustration
Peterborough pulled one back as Malik Mothersille slotted home on the rebound after his penalty was saved by Arthur Okonkwo.
Wrexham were trying to hold on but saw Brad Ihionvien score in injury time, sending the game to penalties.
Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee had their efforts saved as Hector Kyprianou sent the Posh through, completing a stunning comeback.
Wrexham were right there with fans even chanting the famous ‘que sera, sera, whatever will be will be, we’re going to Wembley’ chant.
Peterborough flipped the game on its head though and will now face Birmingham City in the final.
Boss Darren Ferguson – a former Wrexham star in his playing days – has now offered his view on the game.
Speaking to Peterborough’s official website, Ferguson noted that Peterborough’s performance was ‘very good’ but two lapses of concentration cost them early on.
Ferguson felt that the Wrexham crowd were getting frustrated after half an hour without a goal, something the Scot claims to know all about from his playing days.
Peterborough kept going, found a way back in and turned Wrexham’s celebration into a nightmare as that 2-0 lead vanished.
“It’s a fantastic result, a great, great, great night for us,” said Ferguson.
“I thought our performance was very good, I thought we at least deserved a draw. I thought, first half, we started the game really well, we were on the front foot.
“You get to half an hour and, listen, I’ve played here, I know what it’s like, there was a bit of frustration and then, from nowhere, two lapses of concentration and we’re 2-0 down.
“I just said at half time, ‘keep playing the way we are, keep believing, if we can get the next goal – which was the pivotal goal – you never know where it could take us’.
“When you have so much of the ball and dominate the game, the transition is always going to be key. It’s two really poor goals and th second goal is far too quick, we didn’t react to losing the goal and then we’ve conceded again quickly, but we’ve got ourselves back in it and the second half was pretty much like the first – we dominated the game in terms of the ball but the most important goal was us getting one back and thankfully we did that,” he added.
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Wrexham performance will land Phil Parkinson criticism
Ferguson wanted to stop a ‘Hollywood’ final between Wrexham and Birmingham, so he certainly got what he wanted.
As for Wrexham, this is the kind of performance that sees boss Phil Parkinson receive criticism.
Parkinson has worked wonders at Wrexham and nobody is overlooking that he has the club challenging for a third straight promotion.
The criticism that Wrexham become too conservative is legitimate though and we saw that play out on Wednesday night.
30% possession at home in a cup semi-final with a place at Wembley on the line just isn’t good enough and was frankly asking for trouble.
It took a while, but Peterborough ended up with the win they deserved on the night and there have been too many of these performances of late.
Defeats to Shrewsbury Town, Stevenage and Leyton Orient saw Parkinson come in for criticism with fans possibly seeking more excitement and attacking play.
Parkinson’s focus will be results and he certainly knows what it takes to win promotions – not just at Wrexham but elsewhere too.
Wednesday was such a huge missed opportunity though and after an up-and-down run of late, the Wrexham boss can not be immune to criticism over his style of play – despite all that he has achieved.