Wrexham returned to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, beating Mansfield Town 1-0 thanks to Ryan Barnett’s winner at the STōK Cae Ras.
Phil Parkinson needed to see a reaction from his players on Saturday as League One was the full focus for Wrexham once again.
The FA Cup trip to Harrogate Town turned into a nightmare for Wrexham, falling to a 1-0 defeat against the League Two side.
Wrexham welcomed Mansfield Town to the STōK Cae Ras as Parkinson locked horns with Stags boss Nigel Clough once again.
Wrexham grabbed the only goal of the game as Ryan Barnett fired home the opener inside the opening 10 minutes – and that was enough for the victory.
Mansfield had plenty of the ball and did hit the woodwork but Wrexham were able to keep a clean sheet and secure the win.
- READ MORE: Elliot Lee, Modou Faal and Wrexham stars send Ryan Barnett message after Mansfield Town goal
Nigel Clough fumes at refereeing decision
This was a hard-fought victory and Rob McElhenney has branded Wrexham’s win ‘tough’ as Mansfield put up a great fight.
The Stags have started the League One campaign brilliantly after joining Wrexham in winning promotion from League Two.
Mansfield started brightly as Lee Gregory burst into the penalty area and was brought down, but nothing was given.
Wrexham ended up scoring the only goal of the game just moments later, which was a source of real frustration for boss Clough.
Speaking to Mansfield’s official YouTube channel, Clough suggested that the Gregory incident was a ‘very, very good shout for a penalty’.
Clough claims to have been told mixed messages with the fourth official and the referee offering him differing explanations.
Clough feels that referees ‘don’t understands’ how a nudge is a foul when running at full speed, believing Wrexham got away with one early on.
“I think there’s a very, very good shout for a penalty,” said Clough. “There was a bit of a mixed message actually because the fourth official told us that he’d played the ball, the referee denied that at half time and said he never said that, he said ‘there was contact but not enough for a penalty’.
“Now, when you’re running at full pelt into the penalty area and somebody gives you a little nudge, that’s enough contact in the penalty area. This is one thing, again, that I don’t think referees understand,” he added.
Clough on Wrexham decisions
This is not the first time that Clough has been left frustrated with referring at the STōK Cae Ras.
Wrexham were awarded a penalty against Mansfield back in March but the incident actually occurred outside of the penalty area.
Clough was left furious with that decision in Wrexham’s favour and believes this season’s game was a sense of ‘deja vu’, believing that his Mansfield side simply don’t get decisions against Wrexham.
“It’s a bit of deja vu having played well here last year. We don’t seem to get a decision here or anything go our way, certainly, but hopefully that will change in the future,” said Clough.
We saw Rotherham United boss Steve Evans claim that a referee was favouring Wrexham and Clough has offered similar comments.
Phil Parkinson won’t mind one bit; Wrexham have another three points in the bag and are back to winning ways after that FA Cup nightmare.