Wrexham, Sheffield thrill in FA Cup but promotion matters most

They say the sequel never quite lives up to the original, but that kind of logic doesn't apply to Wrexham AFC.

Hollywood star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney might have preferred a different ending to the club's FA Cup fourth round replay against Sheffield United on Tuesday, but there was certainly no lack of drama or tension as the team's cup adventure finally ran out of steam.

The history books will record the outcome as a 3-1 defeat at Bramall Lane against a Sheffield team that sits in one of the promotion spots from the EFL Championship to the Premier League, and it might have been expected as 72 places separate the two clubs in the English football pyramid. But the scoreline only tells a fraction of the story.

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Nine days earlier, these two teams played out one of the most exciting FA Cup ties in recent memory, with defender John Egan's equaliser six minutes into stoppage time snatching a 3-3 draw for Sheffield United and denying Wrexham a place in the fifth round and a tie at home to Tottenham.