Saturday 15th February 2020 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC travelled to Firvale Academy to face Burngreave F.C. in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League, hoping for a repeat of their last visit there in cup competition, a 7-2 win. The two sides have met since then in the league, a 3-2 home victory in November for Wakefield that capped the end of a good run of form, with last week’s 2-1 victory away at Houghton Main Wakefield’s only win in nine games since that last match.
Burngreave, who started the game 15th in the league, had been in better form, with four of their five league victories all coming since the two sides’ last meeting. However, on a day full of wind, rain and weather warnings, it was Wakefield – 10th at the start of play – who kicked up their own storm to blow Burngreave away as they thundered to a 4-0 victory.
After a slow start, Wakefield were a joy to watch, playing with guile, aggression and attacking verve. A host of players delivered standout performances, including a man-of-the-match display from Greek shot-stopper Crescenzio Arvanitis on his debut and captain Manny Katundu – now signed with Stocksbridge, but still able to play for Wakefield this season through duel-registration – returning for a goalscoring cameo full of class and composure.
Manager Chris Turner stuck with the 4-4-2 formation successful last time out, with the aforementioned Arvanitis in goal behind a back four of Ify Ofoegbu, Ikechukwu Molokwu, Yemi Ayodele and Michael Ash. Nathan Weekes played on the left wing, with Noah Hamelberg moving out to the right to allow the returning Katundu to take his place alongside Kyron Richards in midfield. The front two had a different look about it, with Mike Owusu making his first league start up front and Redon Gashi just behind him in a more withdrawn role.
Despite the scoreline, Burngreave made the better start and bossed possession, with their 4-3-3 formation allowing them to outnumber Wakefield in midfield and play the ball out from the back. Wakefield, noticeably improved off the ball in recent weeks, withstood the pressure and some early shots from distance before nearly taking the lead themselves in the 18th minute when Hamelberg – scorer of a wonder goal from distance in his last match – hit the bar from all of 30 yards from goal.
Wakefield did take the lead minutes later, when the excellent and industrious Weekes won the ball in his own half and sprung a counter-attack with a clever ball over the top. Owusu tenaciously chased the ball, shoving the opposition defender off with ease before hitting a clinical finish past the goalkeeper to break his goalscoring duck for the first team. Burngreave nearly gave an immediate response from a free-kick moments after, but Arvanitis dove expertly to his left to push the ball wide with the first in a string of fine saves.
It was all Wakefield after that, with Owusu and Gashi combining on a number of occasions to craft goalscoring opportunities. Gashi had one such chance but saw his shot blocked, before some excellent interplay set Katundu up for an audacious volley from the edge of the box that went just wide. The second goal did come in the 36th minute, and it was again Owusu and Gashi who were the architects. Owusu, physically dominant throughout the game, held up a good ball from midfield before some quick footwork played Gashi in. Still with work to do, Gashi took an excellent touch before striking the ball to the goalkeeper’s right from just inside the 18 yard box to make it 2-0 with his fourth goal of the season and first since last facing Burngreave.
Wakefield took that 2-0 lead in to half time, but had Ayodele to thank after he stopped an almost certain Burngreave goal in the 45th minute with a last-ditch block, after the home striker had gone through on goal. Unlike the first half, Wakefield wasted no time getting going in the second half as they made the scoreline 3-0 in the 51st minute. And it was Katundu who finally got his eighth goal of the season, after hitting the woodwork in each of his last three matches before leaving to join Stocksbridge. It was the woodwork he had to thank this time when, after going through on goal thanks to excellent hold up play from Gashi, he smashed his shot straight through the goalkeeper and in to the back of the net off the inside of the post. The goal means Katundu is now the club’s top-scorer despite now technically being a Stocksbridge player.
The third goal sparked Burngreave in to life and the home side started to create some chances, with Arvanitis making a number of expert saves to protect his clean-sheet. The first was Schmeichel-esque as he came charging out of goal, making himself big to block a goal bound shot. Burngreave also had a couple of hopeful penalty shouts for pushes and hand-ball, but the Wakefield defenders held strong to block and clear any shots before Arvanitis made another excellent save from point blank range with ten minutes to go.
Having weathered both the literal and metaphorical storm, Wakefield saw the game out in style with another well worked goal in the 83rd minute which was a well deserved goal for Weekes, who now has three in his last six games. Ofoegbu, who had moved up to the wing after Danny Kabeya came on to replace Hamelberg, initiated the attack with an excellent ball in to Owusu. Owusu again held the ball up well, beat a last ditch tackle and slotted it in to Weekes who smashed the ball in to the roof of the net to make it 4-0. Wakefield nearly had two more in the dying stages; first when Rayjon Moore came on to replace Owusu and somehow headed over at the back post, and then through Ofoegbu who nearly had his first goal for the club with a clever lob that went just over the bar.
The win, aside from confirming a return to form and confidence for Chris Turner’s men, also sends them back up to fourth in the table thanks in part to a greater games played ratio. Nonetheless, Turner was rightly pleased and stated after the match: “Excellent performance today from the players. Burngreave are a good footballing team, so when we had chances we needed to take them. Four goals and a clean sheet away from home; it could not have gone better. I was delighted with the performance of our new keeper [Arvanitis], he excelled himself I thought. Plus, it was great to see Michael Owusu on fire.”
With their first back-to-back wins since a run of five in a row in October, Wakefield now look to two more away games, against sides lingering at the bottom of the league, with realistic hopes of going on another good run. The first comes against Jubilee Sports, who are level with the now 15th placed Burngreave on 15 points. The match takes place Saturday 22nd February 2020 at the Jubilee Sports Ground, kick-off 14:00PM.
Half Time: 0-2
Full Time: 0-4
Starting XI:
Crescenzio Arvanitis, Ify Ofoegbu, Ikechukwu Molokwu, Yemi Ayodele, Michael Ash, Nathan Weekes, Manny Katundu (C), Kyron Richards, Noah Hamelberg, Redon Gashi, Mike Owusu
Goals:
24m, Mike Owusu
37m, Redon Gashi
51m, Manny Katundu
83m, Nathan Weekes
Subs Used:
67m, Danny Kabeya for Noah Hamelberg
85m, Rayjon Moore for Mike Owusu
Cards:
Kyron Richards (Yellow)
Stats:
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 4
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 4
Burngreave F.C.
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 6
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 7