Wolves continued their great start to life in Division three with another well earned four points on a bitterly cold & wet morning at Shelfield yesterday.
Wolves’ first game was against a very physical and solid Brownhills team who looked to play some attractive football. The absence of Cameron (who will always have a career in acting judging by his efforts to convince me he was fit to play!) was a big miss for Wolves, so solid performances from Jordan, Regan & Tom at the back were called for and they duly obliged as they kept the Brownhills attack quiet for much of the half.
In fairness both sides struggled to create many clear cut chances in the first half with the midfield consuming much of the play. Wolves did look the more likely to break the deadlock and perhaps should have done on ten minutes with Ed beating two Browhills defenders down the left flank before crossing to Ben who could not direct his shot on target.
When games are tight players look to leaders and in Captain Callum they have a a player straight out of the Bryan Robson mould. On twelve minutes with the game heading into half time at 0-0, up stepped Callum to win the ball on the edge of the Brownhills box before bulldozing his way past two defenders and drilling the ball hard and low past the Brownhills keeper to give Wolves the half time lead.
With a one goal cushion Wolves started the second half with more composure as they began to pass the ball in a more assured manner. The introduction of Jake and Josh in the second half also added a bit more endeavour which had been lacking in the first half so it was fitting that they played a big part in Wolves’ second goal. On 20 minutes Josh won a strong tackle and set Jake free down the left, a neat one two with Lily saw the ball fall at the feet of Ben who calmly side stepped the defender before placing the ball into the top right hand corner.
At 2-0 Wolves were now in total control, so when Callum won the ball in the centre of the pitch he was able to set Lily free to shake the ice blocks of her feet before dispatching the ball with consummate ease past the Brownhills keeper.
Full time Brownhills CC U’9’s 0 v Wyrley Wolves U’9’s 3
Wolves’ second game was an eagerly anticipated game against top of the league Wyrley Panthers. There are many things that are guaranteed in life but a dull game between these two rivals is not one of them! Wolves started the game the quicker and could have taken the lead after just two minutes when Ed set Ben free down the right only to see him shoot wide.
Wolves did get the early break through on six minutes following some neat work by Ben on the right who managed to find Lily unmarked in the box to smash home her second of the day. Wolves did not hold the lead for too long after Callum was dispossessed in the midfield the ball broke kindly to the Panthers striker who lashed home the ball from the edge of the box past a stranded Jordan.
Undetered by losing their lead Wolves again pushed on with Tom launching the ball forward to Ed down the left who showed a nice turn of foot to win a thrown in for Wolves. Up stepped bionic arms Regan to deliver a great throw in which saw Callum rise glance the ball home with the sweetest of headers. Wolves further extended their lead just two minutes later when Ben picked up the ball on the right, drove into the box beating two players in the process before shooting past the Panthers keeper to give Wolves a 3-1 lead.
At 3-1 Wolves should have shut up shop but from conceding a sloppy corner the ball rebounded off the post before hitting an unfortunate Thomas and crossing the line to pull a goal back for Panthers. The remaining five minutes of the first half should have seen Wolves wrap up the points as they had a stone wall penalty from a Thomas corner somehow turned down and then Lily lashed home her third of the day from fully 20 yards to give Wolves a 4-2 half time lead.
With football being a game of two halves Panthers were always going to come back strong and credit to them they never gave in. Despite the best efforts of Josh putting his body in front of everything and Jake chasing every lost cause Wolves just could not keep Panthers at bay as they leveled the score at 4-4. Panthers could have taken all three points with 30 seconds to go but for a fantastic save with his feet by Jordan. Previous meetings between these two teams have finished evenly but on this occasion it would not have been unjust for Wolves to leave with the three points on the balance of play.
Full Time Wyrley Panthers U’9’s 4 v Wyrley Wolves U’9’s 4
MOTM Ben (classy feet)
Gang, we have taken a step up in class to a better division but you still never cease to amaze me how hard you work for each other. All I asked for in this division was that win, lose or draw, you compete! Second in the league and unbeaten after four games makes me very proud. Well done!!!
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