Isaac Price doubles up as West Brom’s changes blow Wrexham away

Mikey Johnston had been on the pitch for 28 seconds when he found Jed Wallace to his left. Wallace had entered at the same time and beat the goalkeeper Danny Ward with his second touch.

There will doubtless have been groans in the away end as Tom Fellows, who set up Isaac Price’s opener and had been as lively as a child with unlimited fizzy sweet supplies, departed for Wallace. That disappointment soon dissipated and was replaced by unrestrained joy when seven minutes later Johnston found Price for a headed second.

Not one, but two sets of TV cameras were rolling for Wrexham’s first home game at this level since 1982. The ground had not shaken with the celebratory noise of a second-tier goal for some 15,799 days. But it was not Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney celebrating the strike from their box on high. Instead, a small pocket in blue and white boinged in the sunshine when their No 21 struck in the 21st minute.

Fellows danced down the right in front of them before finding Price with a smart, precise, low cross. The same three adjectives can be used to describe the finish, too. West Brom’s two outstanding young talents deserved much credit but given the club’s ongoing battle with profit and sustainability rules, the worry for supporters is that, should the price be right, they might depart in the next fortnight.

So scared were Wrexham of Fellows that central defender Lewis Brunt was booked after grappling him far closer to West Brom’s box than his own. Before his assist, Fellows had volleyed a decent chance over, while Darnell Furlong dragged a shot from distance wide. As one home fan observed, the Championship was already proving “completely relentless. You don’t get time catch breath”.

But Wrexham are well used to games like these. Substance is prioritised over style, and that is why Kieffer Moore is so crucial. For most modern success stories, he would simply be a Plan B forward, but for Parkinson he is a totem pole. A doubt having limped off at Southampton, Moore, despite rumours of months out, strapped his ankle and cracked on.

Early doors, Moore won a handful of headers and may as well have laughed at Nat Phillips when the defender tried to circumnavigate him. And yet Wrexham’s only attacking moment of note in the opening 40 minutes was losing Josh Windass to injury, replaced by record signing Nathan Broadhead.

Moore played a key, if unexpected part in the leveller. Finding himself in space down the right, he in turn found James McClean in the box whose touch accidentally teed up O’Brien. The finish brought a visceral Welsh roar.

Wrexham ought to have led within a minute of the restart. Moore found himself out wide again, with George Campbell attempting to shepherd the ball out. Moore got his body around him, kept play alive and found Broadhead via a nifty O’Brien flick. Broadhead should have scored.

After that, an away win victory felt more likely. The gaps in Wrexham’s midfield widened. Price and Fellows were continual nuisances, the latter setting up Aune Heggebø with a dummy only for the forward’s shot to be blocked.

Then came the crucial changes. The home side have written the script so many times over the past four years, yet here Mason was in the director’s seat. 2-1. 3-1. Even Smith’s late intervention brought no drama.