MELBOURNE, Australia — Welsh soccer side Wrexham opened a three-match tour of Australia and New Zealand on Friday without their high-profile co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney making the trip Down Under.
The result was a good one, though — 3-0 over A-League side Melbourne Victory — despite missing the Hollywood actors’ star power off the field.
Midfielder Tom O’Connor scored for Wrexham in the 42nd minute, with Ryan Hardie (67th) and George Evans (78th) adding goals in the second half.
Scottish striker Hardie, signed from Plymouth Argyle for the Red Dragons’ long-awaited return to English football’s second tier, was in place to poke home from close range after being introduced as a substitute at halftime.
Evans ended the scoring when his long-range shot squeezed under Victory substitute goalkeeper Daniel Graskoski.
The Wrexham squad is using the visit to prepare for a first season in 43 years in English soccer’s Championship, having just secured a third straight promotion.
Playing in Australia and New Zealand — after recent preseason tours to the United States — is part of an effort to spread Wrexham’s global footprint which has been enhanced by the popular “Welcome to Wrexham” fly-on-the-wall TV documentary.
The major reason for making the 16,000-kilometer (10,000-mile) trip to Australia? McElhenney, who recently changed his name to Rob Mac, previously said that Australia is the third-biggest audience for the “Welcome to Wrexham” series after the United States and Britain.
“We’re not here on a holiday,” Wrexham captain James McClean, who played 103 times for Ireland, said after the team arrived. “It’s great to come and see new things, new experiences but we’re here to work, we’re here to prepare for the new season. It’s going to be the toughest challenge yet, by far.”
Wrexham plays again next Tuesday against Sydney FC in Sydney and on July 19 against the Wellington Phoenix in the New Zealand capital.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
