Phil Parkinson has opened up on the Wrexham turning point from a thrilling 3-2 QPR win away in the 29th Championship matchday.
Just when Wrexham fans started to think the Championship playoffs might be gone, the Reds have arrived back on the scene. Heading to West London to take on QPR was always going to be an intimidating task for Wrexham, and Phil Parkinson’s men fell prey to QPR’s home team advantage.
The Red Dragons were thoroughly outstretched in defence throughout the first half. Shots and chances were hard to come by, and that was Wrexham’s story until the clock struck minute 90. From then, what followed was five minutes of utter madness that no travelling Wrexham fan saw coming.
Starting wingback George Thomason tried creating a chance down the left hand side, but he was brought down to the ground before he could release a pass. Clearly, QPR player Amadou Mbengue deserved a booking which was his second yellow card offence on the night. A red card followed, which was the turning point of the night in Phil Parkinson’s eyes.
Phil Parkinson highlights Wrexham turning point from 3-2 QPR win
As expected, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson was at a loss of words to describe this 3-2 comeback win. Still, he touched down on the game’s turning point moment, the QPR red card at length.
As quoted by ESPN, Parkinson highlighted: “We smelt blood. You can feel that as a team sometimes. Their lad got sent off, I don’t know whether that impacted it or not, but you felt that we were the team most likely to go and win it.”
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As Parkinson concluded, the red card was an indirect help to Wrexham. For a team that lacked shot-creating actions all night, getting to fancy their chances at goal with the opposition having 1 player less was a blessing in disguise. Playing with 10 men, QPR hoped to stay behind and park the bus to hold on to their 2-1 lead.
The Rs could no longer risk going all-out for a 3-1 goal to seal the match, as a Wrexham counter attack could backfire their winning plans. Rather, the visitors got the luxury of attempting more long-rangers from distance due to more empty spaces lying behind the QPR midfield.
Josh Windass fancied a couple of outside the box strikes, before getting hold of a bouncing volley to make it level at 2-2. Wrexham kept advancing forward with hope, and Ollie Rathbone’s sublime top-corner goal exceeded all expectations.
Somehow, Wrexham got their winning act together after watching the back of Mbengue all thanks to his game-changing red card moment.
QPR win reminds Wrexham’s Championship opener
Now, a late-night Championship show like the 3-2 QPR win has happened in a Wrexham game before. Let’s go back to the Championship opener against Southampton at St. Mary’s. Wrexham had made a positive start to the first half just like QPR did, and their efforts were rewarded as well.
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Josh Windass stepped up to make it Wrexham 1-0 Southampton just as Harvey Vale brought QPR an early 1-0 lead yesterday. Against the Saints, the Reds were almost certain of their victory until two Southampton goals in injury time shook every Wrexham fan present in the away end.
That 2-1 defeat in August felt an anti-climax from Wrexham’s point of view. Five months later, Phil Parkinson’s men have inflicted the same heartbreak on QPR to arrive on the good side of a late two-goal win.
The next Wrexham game is not until 6 days away vs Sheffield Wednesday. Meaning, there’s enough time for the players as well as the fans to soak this 3-2 comeback win over QPR and use this as a launchpad to fuel their promotion push even further.
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