A number of Wrexham players shone during their meeting with Barnsley on December 3rd.
The Red Dragons continued their excellent run of form at the Racecourse Ground when they hosted the Yorkshire outfit.
It was a tight affair that eventually saw Wrexham beat Barnsley 1-0 thanks to a very late goal from in-form midfielder, Ollie Rathbone.
The 28-year-old now has two goals in his last three starts for the Welsh side but pretty surprisingly, his display has gone under the radar somewhat.
Supporters who attend games live are able to vote on who they think the best player was and despite scoring the winner, Lewis Brunt was named Man of the Match by Wrexham fans vs Barnsley over Rathbone.
Brunt earned 19 percent of the vote with the former Rotherham United skipper getting 14 percent of the total.
Mark Howard came third in the voting after his stellar showing off the bench following an injury to Callum Burton.
Wrexham legend names his Man of the Match vs Barnsley
Away from Brunt and Rathbone, Wrexham fans praised Paul Mullin after his cameo from the bench.
Mullin continues to struggle on the goal front but fans made an exciting prediction about the forward after what they saw from him on Tuesday.
However, despite Rathbone earning the three points and Brunt the fan’s Man of the Match, Wrexham legend Andy Morell has instead named another star as his top performer from the night.
The man in question is centre-back Eoghan O’Connell, whom Morell thought was ‘aggressive’ vs Barnsley.
He wrote on X/Twitter: “Who loves a last-minute winner. @Wrexham_AFC Was going to be one moment of quality that would separate sides, and up steps Ollie Rathbone to win it. 9 pts from 3 tough home games. 1 pt behind leaders. That defence. MOM O’Connell aggressive and very good with ball!”
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Eoghan O’Connell stats in Wrexham vs Barnsley
While perhaps not getting the plaudits we deserves from all, the centre-back has been excellent for Wrexham during the 2024/25 campaign.
O’Connell was the only positive for Wrexham vs Stevenage when they suffered a 1-0 defeat back in October and continues to put in stellar displays of late.
Despite competition for places being heavy at the back this term, the 29-year-old has featured 16 times in the league in 2024/25 so far and it’s easy to see why.
Rathbone stole the headlines and Brunt continues to shine after breaking into the team but O’Connell’s stats versus Barnsley are worth a look at.
| Eoghan O’Connell | Stats for Wrexham vs Barnsley |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Clearances | 6 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Tackles | 6 |
| Duels (won) | 13 (10) |
| Accurate passes | 31/38 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |