James McClean of Wrexham got into a fight with Mansfield Town fans following the Welsh team’s FA Cup victory.
James McClean, a forward for Wrexham AFC, got into a heated argument with Mansfield Town supporters following the team’s FA Cup victory. Moments after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s team won 2-1 and advanced to the next round of the prestigious competition, there was an altercation.
The incident, which has since received over 1.2 million views on Twitter, captures the 34-year-old pointing as he exits the Field Mill pitch at the Mansfield supporters. His gestures seemed to irritate the opposing fans, who sent some running towards the player while others stayed behind the billboards.
McClean reacted angrily, pointing back to the onlookers before being stopped and restrained by Wrexham’s backroom workers. After that, the forward was led through the tunnel. Throughout the game, McClean was subjected to taunts from the home crowd, which did little to calm the tense moments.
Twenty-three minutes into the match, Sam Dalby opened the scoring for the Irishman’s side against Mansfield. The forward beat goalie Christy Pym with a left-footed shot that went into the net’s roof.
After a mix-up at the back, Paul Mullin coolly passed the ball into the back of the net to give Wrexham a two goal lead early in the second half. A few minutes later, Mansfield managed to rally with a goal through Rhys Oates, but they were unable to add another.
With the victory, Wrexham won three straight games in all competitions and went nine games without losing.
Phil Parkinson, the head coach of Wrexham, praised the team’s performance after the victory. Parkinson told Leader Live that despite the challenging circumstances, “It was a really good game.” “Mansfield had been playing at a high level and had not lost in roughly twenty games prior to the Tuesday loss. But we seemed so big to me.
We scored two really good goals, the first being especially strong. We had other opportunities in the first half, and I’m sure they had as well, but we also had some really outstanding football plays that we were unable to fully capitalise on.
We needed to dig deep because they are a strong team and they threw everything at us, and their performance demanded that we enter the halftime more advanced. The crowd erupted when we scored our second goal, but we handled the setback brilliantly as a team. The boys gave a truly amazing performance.
The FA Cup’s next round will pit Wrexham against Yeovil at The Racecourse Ground. Next up for the team in the Football League Trophy group stages is a home match against Port Vale on Tuesday.
