Saturday 24th September 2022 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC returned home to The Millennium Stadium after a month on the road, welcoming Worsbrough Bridge Athletic for a Northern Counties East League Division One clash. Fourth placed Wakefield, fresh of the back of a 3-0 victory away to high-flying Dronfield, were favourites against second-from-bottom Worsbrough, who had only four points to their name at the start of play.
Added to the contrasting form of the two sides, Wakefield – with three wins from their three home league games so far – had been unbeaten at home in the league since last November, meaning the partisan crowd of 403 were in a jovial, almost expectant, mood at the start of play.
Football, especially in the world of non-league, is always ready to throw up surprises; whether that be streaks coming to an end, form going out of the window or bottom beating top, no side can sit on their laurels at this level. So it proved, as the visitors came to burst Wakefield’s bubble and inflicted a first home league defeat of 2022 with a deserved 2-1 victory.
The warning signs were there early on for Gabe Mozzini’s home side with goalkeeper Henry Kendrick – one of three changes to the side victorious in the previous week – called straight in to action when he held firm against a vicious volley from the penalty box’s edge after Wakefield had been unable to clear a corner-kick.
Wakey did respond with a good early chance of their own, when Jock Curran broke forward from midfield to release winger Mason Rubie down the left. He cut inside to strike the ball beautifully with his right foot and might have had his third goal of the season were it not for the absence of goal line technology at step-six of the national league pyramid, as the goalkeeper appeared to fumble the ball backwards over the line before recovering to scoop it out.
The ball did cross the line in the 19th minute, only at the wrong end of the pitch for Wakefield when Conor Glavin gave the visitors the lead with a looping header to the back post from a pin-point Worsbrough corner-kick. That goal seemed to spark the home side in to life, with Jaydan Sandhu, man-of-the-match in his first game for the club last week, reinstating parity to the game with his second goal in as many games two minutes later.
Sandhu was both creator and finisher, as he won a free-kick to the left edge of the Worsbrough penalty area when the away side found the only way to stop the tricky midfielder’s initial run was to fell him. Sandhu stood over the resultant set-piece and curled a laser-guided right-footed shot all the way in to the far post, beyond the reach of the ‘keeper.
That goal should have settled the home side, but they were unable to ever really wrest full control of the game from a dogged Worsbrough and continued to allow the visitors numerous shots on goal throughout the half, with 1-1 at half-time a fair reflection on the game.
Disappointingly for Wakefield they were unable to step things up in the second half, with their only two serious moments in front of goal coming right at the beginning and right at the end of the half. The first could have been a penalty for Wakefield, when Sandhu – under pressure, and eventually hacked down from behind – was unable to finish a well-timed run by latching on to a teasing Rubie cross. Wakefield fans would say the Worsbrough player got nothing of the ball, whilst Worsbrough fans would argue the Wakefield man never had the ball in the first place; the referee was unmoved. The second chance fell to Cory Woodward with the last touch of the game, as his header went agonisingly wide of the post along with Wakefield’s chance at salvaging a point from the match.
In-between those two Wakefield moments, Worsbrough quite brilliantly used every trick in the book to take, and maintain, a well deserved lead. The visitors’ success started at the back, with Wakefield unable to play through a tightly packed Worsbrough defence. When they did, time and time again the Worsbrough ‘keeper was off his line like lightning to prevent any chance on goal.
Worsbrough also broke quickly at will, and had the best of the chances in the second half; accuracy of shot the only thing that let them down. Accuracy from the spot wasn’t an issue for Glavin however, as he gave the away side the lead in the 58th minute with a well-taken penalty. That penalty decision the referee did get right, when the Worsbrough player had been tripped by substitute Ray Sibanda’s outstretched leg.
The game became very frustrating for Wakey from then on, with Worsbrough expertly making effective use of any opportunity to run down time, whether that be from conveniently timed injury stoppages, set-pieces or use of substitutes. Allied to that, the visitors showed ultimate doggedness, determination and fight to win the game. Wakefield, never able to find full-flow in the game, could have no real complaints with the result and on true introspection will concede that on the day a hungry Worsbrough Bridge side simply seemed to want it more and were smarter in how they went about proceedings.
On the plus side for Wakefield, they remain fourth in the league after nine games despite what is now their third loss of the league season. Losses were always going to occur for Wakefield this year following promotion, and their response is what counts. They will no doubt look to bounce back again next week when they are back on the road away to Harrogate Railway Athletic on Saturday 1st October 2022: kick-off 15:00PM.
Match Stats
Half Time: 1-1
Full Time: 1-2
Attendance: 403
Wakefield Starting XI:
Henry Kendrick – Aaron Pilkington, Kristijonas Joksas, Cory Woodward (C), Taylor Rayan – Owen Kirman, Jaydan Sandhu, Jock Curran, Billy Mole, Mason Rubie – Daniel Hernandez
Wakefield Subs Used:
46m, Jordan Chippendale for Taylor Rayan
51m, Ray Sibanda for Owen Kirman
80m, Tom Booth for Aaron Pilkington
Goals:
19m, Conor Glavin
21m, Jaydan Sandhu
58m, Conor Glavin (Pen)
Attempts:
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shot off Target: 4
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 5
Second Half
Shots on Target: 5
Shots off Target: 3