Phil Parkinson deserves praise after ‘harsh’ Wrexham decision pays off vs Crawley Town
Wrexham faced off with Crawley Town in a League One meeting on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Dragons tasted defeat for the first time in the league earlier this week.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds were in attendance at St Andrew’s to watch Wrexham lose 3-1 versus Birmingham City.
That defeat meant Phil Parkinson’s side were level on points with the Blues going into the weekend’s fixture, but the Tom Brady-owned club do have a game in hand on Wrexham.
Saturday’s clash was expected to prove a much easier test for the Welsh outfit though, especially given Wrexham have an incredible home record.
The Red Dragons went into their meeting with Crawley having conceded just seven goals in all domestic competitions when playing at the Racecourse Ground in 2024.
In turn, it came as little surprise when the home outfit came away with all three points on September 21st.
Wrexham took the lead after 24 minutes when Max Cleworth put a loose corner back into the Crawley box for Elliott Lee to convert.
The home side could not keep hold of their lead with Armando Junior Quitirna making it 1-1 in the 54th minute.
But the Red Dragons eventually got themselves back in front, with Cleworth heading in a George Dobson cross with 11 minutes to go.
‘Harsh’ Phil Parkinson call pays off vs Crawley Town
The main talking point going into the game was the fact Parkinson opted to drop Jack Marriott in place of Paul Mullin.
Mullin was injured over the summer and missed the opening stages of the campaign as a result.
In his place, Marriott has been in red-hot form for Wrexham, scoring four in six ahead of Saturday’s game.
However, despite the 30-year-old being the club’s most in-form centre-forward right now, it was Mullin who partnered Ollie Palmer versus Crawley.
The possibility of Parkinson dropping Marriott was deemed ‘harsh’ by one journalist last week but proved to be the right call this weekend as Wrexham came away with the three points and are still top of the league.
While it was a good call from the Wrexham boss, it’s not great news for Marriott.
Jack Marriott will be worried after Wrexham vs Crawley Town
Marriott is now in the final year of his Wrexham contract and recent events suggest he may not have much of a future at the club.
The striker has played his best football since joining in January 2023 over the last month or so, but that was still not enough to see him keep his place this week.
Now, with Mullin firmly back in the picture, Marriott will struggle to get many more chances this season.
Ollie Palmer is almost nailed on to take up one of the striker spots as Parkinson likes to play with one big and one little centre-forward.
Wrexham signed Modou Faal for a club-record transfer fee last month as well and the 21-year-old will be expecting more minutes in the future.
This will make it even more difficult for Marriott to prove he is worthy of a fresh deal come 2025.
