Only one of the Welsh sides in the English football leagues were victorious over the weekend as Wrexham put on a strong, second-half performance against Sheffield United while the South Wales teams struggled.

Wrexham back in the win column after comeback against Sheffield United

After a disappointing mid-week performance against Watford, Phil Parkinson’s men were eager to return to winning ways in their second consecutive league game away from home.

Following a lacklustre first half, Wrexham found themselves a goal down soon after the restart as Brooks claimed the rebound of Patrick Bamford’s near post attempt.

But the response from the Red Dragons was strong, as former Sheffield Wednesday player Josh Windass levelled the score just five minutes later, finishing Sam Smith’s cross in a move that caught United in transition.

Wrexham then found the defining moment in the 78^th minute as Smith got his second goal contribution of the game when he headed home Issa Kaboré’s cross, as the Manchester City loanee picked him out unmarked in the box.

The Red Dragons find themselves 7^th in the table, tied on points with 6^th place Southampton, as the battle for play-off positions heats up.

Assistant Manager, Steve Parkin, said: “They had a spell first half where they did get on top, but the reaction after the goal conceded and the way the lads applied themselves after a real difficult run of games, I thought was outstanding, absolutely outstanding.”

Cardiff held to goalless draw against Blackpool

The Bluebirds had their work cut out for them with the stubborn Blackpool defence, who have been struggling for form at the bottom of the table but displayed a strong setup at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

It was a question of clinical edge for the home side as; despite enjoying their usual lion’s share of possession, they failed to break the deadlock.

Cardiff missed important chances and were frustrated by Blackpool’s low block throughout, especially after increasing the tempo and still not being able to produce the final ball.

At this stage of Cardiff’s campaign, the result was more of a case of dropping two points than gaining one, as they now fall seven points below league leaders Lincoln.

Automatic promotion in second place seems the most likely outcome still, as Cardiff sit 11 points above Bolton following their loss to rock bottom Port Vale on the weekend.

Bluebirds boss Brian Barry-Murphy said: “The players have done everything to try and give the supporters enough days over the course of the season where they’ve had brilliant Saturdays, and today we weren’t able to do that.

“We love playing at home and our form at home has been incredible. But in recent games, we haven’t got the results we want, but it hasn’t been for a want of trying.”

Swansea suffer heavy defeat from rampant league leaders Coventry

Three goals inside 11 minutes were more than enough to make it seven wins in eight games for Coventry City. With former Swans captain Matt Grimes among the goalscorers against his former team.

A converted penalty from Brandon Thomas-Asante opened the floodgates for Coventry against Swansea on Saturday.

The lead was doubled just six minutes later by former Swansea captain Matt Grimes who nestled his volley from outside the box into the bottom corner after Swansea’s defence failed to clear their lines.

Coventry kept the pressure on and took advantage of Swansea’s clumsy defensive moments and found their third goal moments before half time as a result through Tatsuhiro Sakamoto close-range finish.

The hosts had the odd moment in front of goal but failed to take their chances, hitting the woodwork on two occasions.

Swansea boss, Vitor Matos said: “We had chances, we didn’t score. That shows that in this kind of game, being clinical is massive, having the mental focus in that kind of situation is massive.

“That’s something we need to improve. For 30 minutes I think we were a good team who properly pushed Coventry in moments they didn’t like.

“Cross bar, post, good chance for Franco as well, then a penalty changed the momentum.

Last minute winner deals agonising blow to Newport

Newport County put in a spirited shift away from home against Walsall to boost their chances of avoiding relegation out of the football league but ultimately came away with nothing.

The visitors took the lead in the first half through Harrison Biggins who fired home a well-delivered James Crole cross from yards out.

A sequence of indecisive defending from Newport’s backline saw Walsall square matters in the second half through Daniel Kanu’s instinctive finish.

Despite an even proceeding from there on out, Alex Pattinson mustered a moment of magic in the dying stages of the game, as a half clearance was met by his well-met half volley which found its way into the bottom corner from long-range.

A tough blow for Newport in their quest of avoiding relegation but one that includes some positive takeaways.

County boss, Christian Fuchs, said: “There are seven games to go and we need to be more clinical and take advantage of chances that we have.

“We need to be smarter at times. When you have the opportunity to get one point away from home in Walsall, then you should take that point.

“I’m happy with the performance, but again we didn’t walk away with any points and that’s the part that we definitely need to fix.”

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