THE Reserves went down to an undeserved defeat at the hands of old foes Blackpool this evening.

Under the watchful eye of manager Brian Little, the second string more than held their own against their Championship rivals and during the first 45 minutes it was virtaully one-way traffic with Seasiders' Rhys Evans, the former England U21, by far the busier keeper.

He denied Conall Murtagh after just 11 minutes, turning away the midfielder's long-range effort for a corner.

From the flag kick Marc Williams had an effort blocked and when the ball ran loose to Murtagh it seemed the Irishman must score but his shot cannoned off an upright, running acrorss the face of the empty goal before it was hooked clear.

On 20 minutes, Williams held off a challenge from full back Scott Metcalfe before being left with just the keeper to beat, but his sidefooted shot was beaten down for another corner.

Murtagh was unlucky with another chance on 33 minutes, cutting in from the left and switching the ball to his right foot, but his shot was pulled a little and passed a foot the wrong side of the near post.

Mike Carvill then set up with Williams with an opening two minutes later, driving for the line before pulling a cross back into the path of the flame haired striker, but from 12-yards the U21 Wales international was unable to keep his effort down and the ball ballooned high into the night sky.

Blackpool's only real response in the opening half came from a 39th minute free kick, when the ball was fed through for Scott Vernon to beat the offside trap and fire a shot that hit the underside of the Wrexham crossbar before rebounding down and out. Adrian Forbes was on hand to head to the ball back towards goal, but Carrots regained his feet in time to pluck it out of the air.

The game did quiten down after the interval, but Matty Done enjoyed a 50-yard run before crossing to the back post where Andy Fleming fired back across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick.

Done produced another long distance surge on 67 minutes, this time his shot was wide of the far post, but too far in front of the speeding Marc Williams to allow the striker any chance of making contact.

The visitors John Hills then contrived to miss three times in quick succession, as Michael Jones saved his first effort, blocked a second attempt and then had Gareth Evans to thank for thrusting a leg in front of a third shot from the Blackpool forward and deflecting the ball away for a corner.

The game finally saw its first goal on 82 minutes, when the home defence paid the price for backing off substitute Danny Mitchley, as his low effort found the back of the net just five minutes after he had arrived on the pitch.

Three minutes later striker Danny Mitchley won a penalty, when fouled by Gareth Evans, and he was quickly back on his feet to take the spot kick and send Carrots the wrong way from 12-yards.

As referee Mr Futcher was brandishing a flurry of yellow cards, the Derby official awarded a second penalty, this time to Wrexham for a foul by Forbes on Marc Williams. Up stepped Carvill to take the kick, only for the Pool keeper to guess right and make the save diving to hs right.

"Apart from the last 10 minutes, I thought we were the better side," said Joey Jones.

"I was just about to settle for a 0-0 draw and put it down to one of those nights when we failed to put away our numerous chances, when they went and scored twice!

"It was disappointing, because I had been pleased by the way we played and after two heavy defeats to Blackpool in 2007, it looked like we might get our own back.

"It was not to be, but we can still take plenty of positives from the night."

Wrexham: Michael Jones, Lee Jones, Chris Marriott, Mike Williams, Gareth Evans, Levi Mackin, Andy Fleming, Conall Murtagh, Marc Williams, Mike Carvill, Matty Done.
Subs: Chris Maxwell, Jamie Price, Obi Anoruo, Paul Williams, George Stewart.

Blackpool: Rhys Evans, Scott Metcalfe (Danny Mitchley 77), Danny Coid, Matt Lawlor (Ross Lloyd 81), Ashton Bayliss, Marcus Bean, Adrian Forbes, Scott Vernon, Phil Marsh, Matt Kay, John Hills.
Subs: Kyle Clancy, Stefan Laird, Dominic Merella.

Referee: R Futcher (Derby)
Attendance: 59
Away: 0

Bookings -
Wrexham: Mackin (37, foul), Marriott (70, foul), Carvill (90, foul)
Blackpool: Bean (60, disssent), Forbes (87, dissent), Kay (90, foul)