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IF you've very nearly been trapped by Hurricane Ivan during the past week, a bit of blustery weather at The Racecourse isn't going to cause a problem, is it?


Certainly not for giant defender Dennis Lawrence.

After helping his native Trinidad to a win over St Kitts and Nevis before they lost to Mexico, he endured a near two-day plane journey home. But Lawrence dragged his weary bones out of bed and gave Wrexham the flyer they needed against Bradford.

In fact, it took him just one minute and 20 seconds to make a difference.

The giant defender went rampaging forward, and fed Chris Llewellyn who in turn found Hector Sam.

With Lawrence still bombing on, his Trinidadian compatriot picked out the run and the defender made no mistake from close range.

Cue an entertaining and open game. "I thought it was an excellent win, especially if you look at what's happened to us," said Smith. "Dennis Lawrence did well to play at all. He didn't get back home until late last night and his ankle was a bit sore as well.

"But that goal deserved to win any match."

After the early effort two strikers from each side took prominence. On the home team there was the unpredictable Hector Sam; for the Bantams, well, you know exactly what you are going to get from Dean Windass. And the wind was still a big element in all this.

Unlike Lawrence, Sam was not called up for international duty during the week, and he was full of bluster. And for large parts of the first half he was Bradford's tormentor-in-chief.

He should have headed in Dean Bennett's fine cross and minutes later he embarked on a mazy run, full of drag-backs, turns and flicks, but with no end product.

But at the end, Smith said: "We showed what I knew we could do. We looked hard to beat, competitive - and if anyone wants a battle we can give it to them. That will hold us in good stead this season."