By David Parsons
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson accused his team of lacking “fight and determination” in their 3-2 defeat at home to Stevenage.
The hosts had gone 22 matches unbeaten on their own turf before this encounter, with their previous loss dating back to March against Tranmere.
However, Stevenage delivered a dominant first-half performance to secure the victory.
Stevenage took the lead in the 13th minute when Dan Kemp’s effort rebounded into the net, and they quickly added a second through Jamie Reid’s long-range strike.
Wrexham pulled one back early in the second half as Paul Mullin nodded in at the far post.
But Stevenage extended their lead again with under 20 minutes to go, courtesy of Jake Young’s close-range finish, before Max Cleworth scored a late consolation for the hosts.
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“Those two goals in the first half were just too easy,” Parkinson admitted. “We have to get back to doing the very basics on the football pitch well.
“You still give yourself a platform by fighting and competing all over the pitch, by blocking shots, and we were way off it out there tonight.
“If you look at the third goal, we have lost challenges, and we have not shown enough desire in the final moment to block the shot.
“We will use the defeat as motivation. I will look closely at myself and take full responsibility for that.
“I pride myself and my coaching staff on preparing teams to play well, and the majority of the time, we have done that and competed and been strong.
“Tonight we were too loose out of possession and obviously weren’t good enough in possession first half.
“When you are not playing well as a team, you have to stand strong as a team and win headers and there wasn’t enough fight barring two or three players out there tonight.”
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Stevenage manager Alex Revell praised his team’s efforts, saying: “It was a fantastic performance, to come here and beat this team and do the double over them, a team which is in the top bracket.
“Every game, confidence and belief grows. I thought first half, in my opinion, was the best I have seen a Stevenage team play in a very long time.
“To a man, everyone worked incredibly hard tonight for the win, and I can’t single out anyone really because of the whole team’s performance.
“This is what happens when you believe in what you are doing and believe in the team; we just have to keep working now.
“We saw some of the fruits of our labour on Saturday at times and I thought first half today we really saw that.
“We should have been out of sight at half-time, but you know what’s coming with the players that they got; you know this Wrexham team is strong, so it’s a magnificent win.”
