Wrexham are showing the way for Welsh football – and earning the praise of manager Phil Parkinson – after stretching their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

The Reds are now up to second place in League Two and looking a good bet for a second successive promotion after storming to the National League title last season.

Parkinson saw his team beat Gillingham 2-0 at home with goals from Ollie Palmer and Ben Tozer, with the proud boss saying: “I thought it was a strong, professional performance from us. Gillingham are doing well and with the manager leaving and a new manager coming in, there is always that chance of a lift, so it was always going to be a potentially tricky game, but over the 90 minutes we restricted them to very little and got the two important goals.

“I am really pleased with the win and right to the end, the lads kept their concentration really well and saw the game through.

 

It was not such a rewarding weekend for Wales’ other three Football League teams who all failed to win.

At least Wrexham’s League Two rivals Newport County managed to pick up a point in a goalless draw at home to MK Dons.

Newport manager Graham Coughlan said: “Given our current predicament, I’ve got to be satisfied with the performance and opportunities created.

“We’ve gone up against one of the top teams in this division, not just financially and stadium wise – that’s a top top group of players that MK Dons have.

“We’ve done more than enough to win the game and Nick Townsend pulled off two magnificent saves.”

 

Michael Duff blamed his players for “a mad 15 minutes” as Swansea City lost for the third time in five matches to drop to 17th in the Championship table.

The Swans head coach pointed the finger at poor defending from set-pieces as they went down 3-2 at high-flying Ipswich Town.

Duff’s side had led 1-0 through Jay Fulton but fell 3-1 down before pulling back a late goal through Jamal Lowe after striker Liam Cullen was sent off for a second yellow card.

“We’ve been beaten by a 35-yard screamer, conceded from a throw in, conceded a penalty from a corner and had a man sent off from a throw in,” said Duff.

“Three set plays, ultimately. We kept the ball really well, started the game on the front foot, shot ourselves in the foot in a mad 15 minutes, got back in it and then we went down to 10 men.

“I thought we were excellent. I think that there’s 30,000 people biting their nails when nine minutes goes up (for added time).

“We’ve got 10 men and they’re time wasting which tells you everything. I’m really pleased with the character and some of the quality but ultimately frustrated that we have come away with nothing.”

 

Erol Bulut accused Cardiff City of lacking fight as they succumbed to a 3-2 home defeat to Norwich City that dropped the Bluebirds down to ninth in the Championship table.

Defeat was Cardiff’s first in four matches, and Bulut slammed his players for their shoddy set-piece defending against the Carrow Road outfit.

“You can lose the game, but not how we lost it in the last 25 minutes – this makes me angry,” Bulut fumed.

“We didn’t fight, we didn’t concentrate, we lost balls too quickly and we knew exactly what they would do. Some players were not concentrating enough.

“We trained for it (set-pieces). We showed the team how Norwich are doing their corner kicks, at the front post, and today they scored the first goal from the front post.

“And at the far post we conceded. The second goal was the same. Two easy goals.”

Victory lifts Norwich up to 16th in the Championship table.

Cardiff are ninth but stay two points adrift of the top six. The defeat was Cardiff’s first on home soil since early August and brought an end to their three-match unbeaten sequence.