Wrexham secured a 3-1 victory over Grimsby Town today, and while Andy Cannon starred, Eoghan O’Connell deserves huge credit.
After drawing against Harrogate Town and losing to Tranmere Rovers, Wrexham got back to winning ways by dispatching Grimsby Town 3-1.
Phil Parkinson‘s men put in a commanding performance in Lincolnshire as Andy Cannon scored a fantastic brace and Paul Mullin added a third.
Wrexham’s attacker drew all the praise this afternoon, but defensively, the Reds were superb and a back three of Will Boyle, Max Cleworth and Eoghan O’Connell continued their solid partnership.
Despite scoring a consolation through Arthur Gnahoua late on, the hosts only forced goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo into one save.
O’Connell’s dominance alongside Cleworth and Boyle was a huge reason for that.
Eoghan O’Connell’s statistics v Grimsby Town
O’Connell has suffered an injury-hit campaign this term, but that hasn’t stopped him from inflicting his dominance on the Wrexham defence, appearing across 23 matches in the league.
The 28-year-old is everything you’d want in a League Two defender; he’s great at intercepting the ball high up, winning aerial duels against physical attackers and reading the game.
In today’s win over the Mariners, Cannon’s long-range strike set the tone inside five minutes, adding to that with an opportunistic finish half an hour later before Mullin scored a third on the stroke of half-time.
O’Connell’s performance, meanwhile, went under the radar, but he certainly showed his worth to Parkinson by acting as an unstoppable force.
The Irishman won almost everything on the ground, making five interceptions, two tackles and won two of his three ground duels.
He was also incredible in the air as he won six of his seven aerial duels (85%), shutting down the ammunition that Grimsby fired into the box.
Wrexham’s defence has improved
Parkinson has found the correct formula defensively after struggling to find a settled back three.
O’Connell, Cleworth and Boyle appear to be his preferred trio, and they are building a strong partnership.
In the last five matches, they’ve only conceded three goals, keeping clean sheets in two of those.
The Reds were close to making it a third today but shipped a goal eight minutes from time.
With some key fixtures to come, especially the promotion showdown against Mansfield Town next Friday, Wrexham will need to keep their defence watertight and the form of O’Connell will be crucial to achieving that.