Wolves U’9’s clinched the Alberta Wood Division 4 title in emphatic style yesterday on the final day of the season which will live in our memories for a long time to come.
Wolves arrived at Shelfied Sports College on a bitterly cold and frosty morning knowing that two points from two games would be enough to secure the league title from a Wyrley Panthers team who had pushed them all the way.
Unfortunately for Wolves if they were going to secure the desired points they would have to do it without their striker Lily, who had contributed nearly 50% of Wolves’ overall goals this season but was otherwise engaged setting new Olympic records in the pool!!!. Many teams would have looked for excuses with the loss of of such an important player but not this bunch. A simple team talk in front of parents highlighting how much money time & effort we expend on those little rascals seemed to do the trick!
From the first whistle the leads & muzzles were let off this pack who were foaming at the mouth to set about their APR opponents. Wolves were relentless and soon got to work on the APR team not giving and inch or a second for them to settle on the ball. It took just three minutes for Wolves to break the dead lock with Ed & Ben combining with a neat one-two which set up Captain Callum to slot the ball in for Thomas who coolly riffled hard and low past the APR keeper to give Wolves the lead.
If ever there was a player you wanted to fill the boots left by Lily’s absence then Ben would be the lad to pop in the spot. The blonde bombshell was in scintillating form yesterday as smashed home Wolves’ second goal from the tightest of angles following some great defensive play by Cameron and Ed on the left. At 2-0 Wolves were cruising and who better than Regan & Cameron to keep things tight at the back and allow our forwards to play with total confidence. It has been rumoured that Villa have been targeting these two rocks, granted it will bring the average age of the first team down to 13 & 1/2 but at least they will keep clean sheets!!!!
Wolves added a third goal on 6 minutes and effectively wrapped up the game & league when Captain fantastic Callum (minus the cape) blasted through the APR defence to drill home Wolves’ third of the day. It would have been easy for Wolves to sit back & relax but such is the make up of the squad they just don’t know how to as Callum and Ben added to their first half tallies to give Wolves a comfortable and well deserved 5-0 lead at half time.
The second half saw the introduction of Josh & Jake and with these two you always know what you get 100%. It took Josh all of two minutes to get his first effort away which was neatly saved by the APR keeper, whilst many (myself included) would pay money to watch the neat feet of Jake making the APR defence dizzy with his mazey runs!
It was from one of Jake’s trademark runs which saw him release Callum who was hacked down inside the box to give Wolves a penalty five minutes into the second half. Up stepped Callum attempting to notch his first hat trick of the season only to see the APR keeper save smartly. From the deflected shot the ball spun up in the air air and Callum stuck his head where most Premiership footballers would not (Nasri included!!) only to see it smash off his face and land at the feet of Ben who snatched his first hat trick for the team.
At 6-0 and the league in the bag Wolves sat back and allowed APR to get a consolation goal past the otherwise immaculate Jordan, who despite feeling under the weather, turned out proving he is one of if not the best keeper in the league!
Full Time Wyrley Wolves U’9’s 6 v APR U’9’s 1
Wolves’ second game was against a Beechdale team who were still pushing for a third place finish. Unfortunately for Beechdale they came up against Wolves who were not in the mood to let anyone spoil their party and it took just four minutes for Wolves to break the resolve of Beechdale, after a powerful run by Josh which saw the ball fall at the feet of Ben who lashed home to give Wolves the lead.
Smelling another win Wolves raced into a two goal lead when Thomas burst forward from defence beat two Beechdale defenders with silky skills before setting up Callum to smash home his third of the day. Ben soon added his fifth goal of the day and his second of the match to give Wolves a comfortable 3-0 half time lead.
The second half saw the introduction of Regan (showing the prowess of a midfielder he will become) & Ed chipping in with his now custom goal to give Wolves a 4-0 lead early in the second half. It was fitting that Ben should score his second hat trick of the day and wrap up the points for Wolves with five minutes remaining. Beechdale did snatch a late consolation past Jordan, but with one of the finest goalkeeping records across all four divisions I would not lose too much sleep.
A final well done to Neil & his Panthers side who pushed us until the final day of the season, we look forward to may good matches in Division 3.
Full Time Wyrley Wolves U’9’s 5 v Beechdale Jnrs U’9’s 1
MOTM Team
Well done gang on a fantastic first half season P18 W14 D3 L1 F61 A20 PTS 45 these stats speak for themselves, very proud of every single one of you and thanks to a fantastic bunch of parents who make my life easy! Hard work starts next week gang so enjoy it!
Si