Harrogate Town 1 Wrexham AFC 0: Superb Sulphurites pull off FA Cup upset

Jack Muldoon’s fine first-half header proved sufficient to decide the contest in favour of Simon Weaver’s Sulphurites, who currently sit 17th in League Two.

The Wetherby Road outfit headed into the tie as big underdogs, with Wrexham – owned by big spending Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – currently flying high in the third tier and eyeing a third promotion in as many seasons.

But the Red Dragons were unable to find a way past their hard-working hosts, who spent long periods on the back foot, but pressed with real desire when out of possession and defended doggedly throughout.

Unsurprisingly given the quality in their ranks, it was the League One title-hopefuls who began the stronger of the sides, creating a number of early opportunities.

Ollie Palmer headed straight at James Belshaw and fired over the cross-bar either side of Paul Mullin drawing a decent stop from Harrogate’s goalkeeper.

But it was Town who broke the deadlock on 24 minutes. Stephen Duke-McKenna swung over an inviting corner-kick delivery from the left that Muldoon met on the edge of the six-yard box, glancing a superb near-post header back across Arthur Okonkwo and into the net

The momentum of the contest suddenly with Harrogate, another Duke-McKenna set-piece almost led to a second chance for Muldoon, who just failed to get on the end of Jasper Moon’s far-post knock down from a hanging free-kick.

The opening period ended with another decent opening for Palmer, but having received the ball from Seb Revan in a dangerous position inside the home box, the veteran striker took one touch too many, allowing the sliding Moon to take the sting out of his goal-bound effort.

The second half saw the play become a little more stretched and both teams asking questions of each other, though it was undoubtedly the Welsh outfit who carried the greater threat.

Their first chance arrived shortly after the restart when a splendid switch of play by Eoghan O’Connell released Ryan Barnett down the right wing. His first touch was excellent, but the second sent the ball sailing over the cross-bar.

A swift counter-attack from a Harrogate corner then saw Wrexham end up with a three-on-one overload, though Belshaw made himself big and produced a brilliant stop to deny George Dobson one-on-one.

At the other end, the lively Duke McKenna twice drifted inside off the home left and let fly with his right foot, but was unable to trouble Okonkwo.

From the midway point of the second half, Town found themselves under increasingly long spells of pressure, with substitutes Jon Dadi Bodvarsson firing over the top and James McLean nodding wide of the upright.

Bodvarsson, who scored a first-half FA Cup hat-trick against the Sulphurites for Bolton Wanderers last season, then tested Belshaw again with an acrobatic strike, before Mo Faal made a mess of a close-range headed opportunity.

It looked as if Town’s brave resistance had finally been broken in the 85th minute when Elliot Lee’s header was nodded in almost on the goal-line by Faal, though he did so from an offside position and the ‘equaliser’ was ruled out.

Still Wrexham kept coming, however Weaver’s remained resolute in defence, surviving five minutes of stoppage time to earn themselves a place in round two and £45,000 in prize money.