At what point does Wrexham’s habit of coincidental narrative become accepted as something deeper?

Of course Paul Mullin, fresh off confirming he would not be swapping the charm of north Wales for the lust of Saudi Arabian silver, heralded in his second act with a free-kick against Barrow on New Year’s Day that was as divinely ridiculous as the rumours themselves.

And of course Wrexham, now four-walled and excruciating, extended their record of goals scored on home soil to a staggering 50 successive matches. And of course Steven Fletcher, on the 36-year-old’s 400th appearance in English league football and with Wrexham 1-0 down after 33 seconds, finally netted his first hat-trick in the English game.

It should arrive as little to no shock, then, that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, a case of nominative determinism that feels, at this stage, appropriately fated.

Football is a sucker for circular symbolism. And while there is admittedly little real difference between Sunday December 31st and Monday January 1st beyond an increase in paracetamol purchases, Wrexham’s 4-1 comeback victory over promotion rivals Barrow–the first match of the new year, the default and totally fallible forecast of what is to come–felt riddled with metaphorical value, the sort that is difficult to pry away from when considering the second half of the League Two promotion race.

With 25 matches gone and 21 matches remaining in the regular season, Wrexham sit third in League Two level on points with Mansfield. Phil Parkinson’s side are two points off Stockport in top spot with a game in hand.