Match Reporter: Austin Ainsworth
Attendance: 289
The incessant rain did nothing to dampen the mood at The Millennium Stadium, as Wakefield AFC brightened a miserable October day with a fine performance against Oughtibridge W.M.S.C. in the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League.
Both sides went in to the game off the back of disappointing opening day defeats and postponed games last weekend, with Wakefield second from bottom in 14th position and the visitors only one above them in 13th place. Wakefield would have been spurred on by their unbeaten record against Oughtibridge – an away draw and home win last season – but mindful that previous form counts for nothing at this level after the shock 2-0 home loss to Jubilee Sports in their first game. Perhaps spurred on by that fact, Wakefield were emphatic, with two goals in each half sealing a 4-0 win.
Manager Adam Lockwood kept trust in both his players and system, sticking with a 3-4-1-2 formation and making only one change to the last side he picked – Jed Wilkinson in at left-back for the absent Jack Budge. That meant starts for Crescenzio Arvanitis in goal; Gervas Chipasha, Greg Hunter, Patrick Hoyle and Jake Dickinson in defence; Jack Burton, Tom Raithby and Bryce Orsini in midfield; and Dan Palmer and Samuel Amissah in attack.
The first half started off at lightning pace, with barely a moment for the record 300 fans in attendance to blink between dangerous attacks, as the two sides exchanged shots on goal. Thankfully Wakefield’s first attempt seconds in to the game – a shot from Amissah at the back post, after excellent wing-play from Wilkinson to beat a man and deliver the cross — resulted in his, and Wakefield’s, first goal of the season to make it 1-0.
Other than a heart-in-mouth moment for the home fans almost straight after the re-start, when the Oughtibridge striker narrowly missed out on an equaliser with a smart chip over Arvanitis from the edge of the box, Wakefield had the better of the glut of opening chances and should have put the game to bed. The two best chances fell to goalscorer Amissah; first after a beautiful flick over from Orsini that he could only nudge in to the waiting goalkeeper’s hands, and then following an excellent run and pass from Palmer that looked to be curling in to the corner before the away goalkeeper smartly saved. Palmer himself had a good chance before the clock even struck 10 minutes, as he bravely rushed in for a diving-header from another Wilkinson cross, but narrowly missed the goal.
Oughtibridge were largely limited to shots from distance but looked dangerous as they regularly played the ball quickly from back to front allowing them to get in behind a high Wakefield line. One such instance forced Arvanitis in to an excellent save as he bravely rushed out to the striker’s feet to stop a certain goal in the 16th minute. Spurred on by the chance, the away side did rediscover a foothold in the game and threatened more and more as the half wore on, delivering dangerous crosses and testing Arvanitis again on one occasion.
When it looked as though Lockwood’s men might again pay for missing chances, as they did in the first game of the season, Palmer was on hand in the 36th minute to settle the increasingly nervous home crowd. It all started with a thunderous shot from distance from midfield maestro Raithby, that had the goalkeeper beat but rattled the crossbar. The ever-alert Palmer then reacted the quickest, smartly diving in ahead of the scrambling defenders to head in to an open net from the rebound.
The second half started off a much more serene affair, with the teams understandably unable to match the intensity of the first. Both sides looked tired; with Wakefield limited to a handful of missed headers from dangerous crosses, and Oughtibridge not even able to muster a shot of any kind, despite again looking threatening in-behind. Their most dangerous moment came when Arvanitis again bravely rushed out to prevent the striker latching on to a dangerous through ball, before said striker clattered in to him to leave him a crumpled mess on the floor. Some histrionics followed from the encircling players, and Chipasha – along with an Oughtibridge player – came away with yellow cards for some pushing and shoving.
For a long time it seemed that that would be the most exciting moment of the second period, before the game sparked back in to life in the 80th minute shortly after Mason Rubie came on at right-back for his Wakefield AFC debut. With his first touch he showed good pace to dart up the right wing, before crossing for Palmer on the edge of the box. The utterly sublime followed when Palmer struck a first time volley with his left foot straight in to the back of the Oughtibridge goal. He nearly capped off a man-of-the-match performance moments later when he again struck a volley from the edge of the box – this time with his right foot – but the shot went just wide.
Rubie, having caught the eye with that opening assist, found himself drifting inwards in the 83rd minute and – clearly full of confidence – struck a dangerous, dipping shot from all of 40 yards that the goalkeeper could only fumble in to the goal. Even at 4-0 the game wasn’t finished though, as both sides exchanged more shots on goal. Arvanitis did have one more save to make, conserving his clean-sheet and placing the gloss on a dominant and composed Wakefield performance.
Adam Lockwood said after the match: “It’s good to get the first three points, and also a clean-sheet. There were things that really pleased us, and also things which we need to continue working on. The lads are working hard and, as I keep saying, we are a new group that are learning about each other all the time and we just need to keep building and progressing.”
The result sees Wakefield rise to 9th position in the league, whilst Oughtibridge fall one place to 14th. Although the table never lies, not much should be read in to it so early in the season but – with Wakefield now off to winning ways – they will set their sights on a run of good results and moving towards the upper-echelons of the league. Their next game comes away to Stocksbridge Park Steels FC Reserves at the Look Local Stadium on Saturday 10th October 2020: kick-off,15:00PM.
The Stats:
Half Time: 2-0
Full Time: 4-0
Starting XI:
Crescenzio Arvanitis – Jake Dickinson, Gervas Chipasha, Patrick Hoyle, Greg Hunter (Captain), Jed Wilkinson – Tom Raithby, Jack Burton – Bryce Orsini – Samuel Amissah, Dan Palmer
Goals:
1m, Samuel Amissah
36m, Dan Palmer
80m, Dan Palmer
83m, Mason Rubie
Assists
1m, Jed Wilkinson
36m, Tom Raithby
80m, Mason Rubie
Subs Used:
77m, Dean Makunike for Samuel Amissah
80m, Mason Rubie for Jake Dickinson
83m, Tom Davies for Bryce Orsini
Cards:
Gervas Chipasha (Yellow)
Stats:
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 5
Second Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 8
Oughtibridge W.M.S.C.
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 0