Republic of Ireland international Ryan Manning came off the bench to help Southampton secure a come from behind 2-1 win over Wrexham at St Mary’s in the opening weekend Championship battle between a team relegated from the Premier League and one promoted from League One.
Manning, who came on after 72 minutes, dispatched a superb 90th-minute free-kick to equalise Josh Windass’s first-half penalty. The Saints were not done, though, as Manning then burst down the left in the sixth minute of added time to deliver a cross that Jack Stephens lashed in off the crossbar at the back post and floor the club owned by Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Windass put Wrexham ahead on their return to the second tier of English football after a 43-year absence, converting a 22nd-minute penalty when fellow summer recruit Kieffer Moore was fouled.
This was the first league meeting between the two sides for 65 years and a tale of two very different managers.
RM Block
Southampton boss Will Still – the youngest manager in the Championship at 32 – was in charge of his first game in English football after working in Belgium and France.
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who began his career at Southampton before being released without making a single appearance, is the oldest manager in the division and has over 1,000 games under his belt and three successive promotions on his CV.
