Goals:
40m (Oughtibridge)
66m Lennard Okalo
84m Jamie Hardwick
90m (Oughtibridge)
Wakefield Starting XI:
Ryan Eades, Jean Merour, Yemi Ayodele, Marvin Emmanuel, Jack Enkh
Noah Hamelberg, Kyron Richards (capt), Jamie Hardwick, Thomas Eclapier
Redon Gashi, Nathan Weekes
Subs Used:
52m Mike Owusu for Thomas Eclapier
60m Lennard Okalo for Redon Gashi
67m Chris Sholu for Nathan Weekes
Bookings: None
Wakefield were within touching distance of their second win on the bounce until an error at the back allowed the hosts to snatch a point. The away team had done the hard work in the second half, fighting back from a goal down in the first half to take the lead with six minutes to go to full time. Then in the dying moments of the game a mix up in defence allowed the ball to break loose to an Oughtibridge player to score into an empty net. Yemi Ayodele had played the ball back to keeper Ryan Eades at the edge of his box whp took too long to clear, clashed with defender Marvin Emmanuel and the ball came loose. It was the kind of defensive error we have seen too many times already this season and has cost the team points in more than one game.
The first half had certainly gone Oughtibridge’s way and they edged the score at half-time with a goal from an unmarked header five minutes before the whistle. Manager Chris Turner kept the players on the pitch for a half-time team talk which seemed to do the trick after the break. With the absence of club captain Manny Katundu, Turner had already reverted to a 4-4-2 formation from the 4-3-3 that performed so well last week. Striker Rayjon Moore was also absent and although Quinaceo Hunt was back from international duty he was only on the bench.
An hour into the game, Turner brought on winger Lennard Okalo and it turned into an inspired substitution. Just two minutes later, the Ugandan winger latched onto a long ball from Jamie Hardwick and calmly scored by slotting the ball under the advancing Oughtibridge keeper. Wakefield looked to have completed the win with six minutes to go when Hardwick was the scorer rather than creator, cutting inside from eighteen yards out and striking the ball hard and low into the net.
Wakefield conceded in the dying moments though and left Oughtibridge with another draw, our third in six matches to date. It leaves us eighth in the table, four points off the leaders Swinton Athletic who also have a game in hand. The next three games in the league are against Ecclesfield Red Rose 1915, Jubilee Sports and Houghton Main who are all below us in the league. The first of those is this Saturday 21st September 2019 at home at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium in Cudworth, kick off at 3:00pm.
MATCH REPORT: Oughtibridge 2 – 2 Wakefield AFC
