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Wrexham missed out on a trip to Wembley in heartbreaking fashion, and no one will be more hurt than Ryan Reynolds
The Welsh side, backed by Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Reynolds, were beaten by Peterborough in the EFL Trophy semi finals, squandering a two-goal lead before losing 4-2 on penalties.
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After racing into a 2-0 lead with first-half goals from Modou Faal and George Dobson, Wrexham looked to have sealed a final showdown with fellow League One giants Birmingham.
But Malik Mothersille halved the deficit on 72 minutes, before Bradley Ihionvien equalised for the Posh in injury time, forcing a shootout.
Ihionvien, Ryan de Havilland, Harley Mills and Hector Kyprianou all scored from the spot as Jed Steer kept out efforts from Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee to book Peterborough's trip to Wembley.
Wrexham's late collapse came as chants of 'We're going to Wembley' could be heard ringing around the Racecourse.
And the reminder of what could have been is sure to sting particularly for co-owner Reynolds, who was left devastated after his side's last outing at the home of football.
The Red Dragons' were beaten by Bromley in the 2022 FA Trophy Final, with their big day out captured in the award-winning docuseries 'Welcome to Wrexham'.
After the 1-0 defeat, Reynolds shared his disappointment after realising the importance of a Wembley trip to the club's fans.
He said: “When you see elementary school students singing songs about going to Wembley and seeing how much is riding on this.
"I mean, people travelling all the way down to London to see this match. I'm bummed for the community. And I take that super seriously.
“So that's the thing that hurts the most. But, you know, I can handle the loss just objectively, no problem.
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“It's the community that I sort of feel the weight of."
And while Reynolds and Wrexham were left licking their wounds after missing their chance for a Wembley redemption, their opponents wasted no time in rubbing their noses in it.
After the match, Peterborough goalscorer Ihionvien took to social to mock his League One rivals.
In a now-deleted Instagram story, the 21-year-old filmed himself and teammate Ricky-Jade Jones dancing to NSYNC’s 2000 hit ‘Bye Bye Bye’.
Ihionvien then sings along: “Bye bye bye, bye Wrexham, bye Wrexham, sorry not sorry. Bye Wrexham, sorry not sorry.
"Have fun, watch us in Wembley!”
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The forward added further insult to injury by including a sticker of Deadpool, the Marvel character played by Reynolds, in his story.
Despite the painful cup defeat however, Wrexham are still well placed in their League One promotion charge.
The Welsh outfit sit third in the table, three points behind second place Wycombe with 14 games of the season remaining.
If Wrexham go up this season, they would be celebrating three consecutive promotions, as well as playing in the second-tier for just the second time in their history.
And after defeat to Peterborough, manager Phil Parkinson pledged his side's full focus to their league campaign.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "We've said before every round that the league is our number one priority, and it always has been, but when you get so close, we want to finish the job off.
"We've done well in this tournament throughout this season, but now we've got to focus on the league and learn from tonight."
