The Welsh outfit looked dead and buried until Ollie Palmer’s late intervention
Manager Phil Parkinson felt Wrexham’s season was “off and running” after their dramatic late comeback and penalty shootout victory over Hull City in the Carabao Cup.
Veteran striker Ollie Palmer put doubt over his future aside by coming off the bench to score twice with his head in stoppage time and snatch a 3-3 draw before the Red Dragons prevailed 5-3 on spot-kicks to see City knocked out in the first round for the fifth season in a row.
It was the Welsh side’s first home match of a new season in which they are playing in the second tier for the first time in more than 40 years, while for the Tigers, it was Sergej Jakirovic’s first taste of League Cup football.
Anticipation for the hosts had been high but, after last weekend’s last-gasp defeat at Southampton, it took something extraordinary to avoid another anti-climax, though it didn’t look like being the case when City roared into a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Oli McBurnie, Joel Ndala and Matt Crooks, cancelling out Elliot Lee’s first half strike.
Palmer had other ideas, however, scoring in the 91st and 92nd minutes to level it up at 3-3 and send the tie to penalty kicks. Ndala saw his effort crash off the bar, which allowed Jack Marriott to tuck in the winning kick and send a sell-out crowd home happy.
“Well, first of all, we show that we never give up. I think the trait of the team and the club over the last three, four years is that,” the ex-City boss said.
“I think it’s good for the new lads to see that and to say that we’re going to go to the end. I feel we’ve got our season off and running. The subs and the penalties were brilliant and I’m so pleased for big Ollie because he’s a hero.”
Palmer, 33, played a key role in Wrexham’s rise from the National League but fell down the pecking order in the latter stages of last season.
That has led to suggestions he could move on, though Parkinson retains huge respect for the former AFC Wimbledon forward who ensured the newly-promoted side are in the second round draw.
“He was fantastic,” said Parkinson. “He’s been a cult player for us over the years and he conducted himself amazingly well last year when we made changes. He wanted to stay and be a part of it, and he was tonight. You can never write anybody off. He couldn’t have done any more.”
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