Saturday 26th November 2022 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC made the long journey across the border in to Lancashire, as they travelled to face Barnoldswick Town in the second round of the West Riding County Cup.
Following Wakefield’s impressive first round, 4-2 defeat of Yorkshire Amateur, they faced another stern test against higher level opposition, with Barnoldswick Town well established at Step Five of the National League Pyramid, one tier above Wakefield who themselves are newly promoted to Step Six.
Wakefield still travelled with hope, no doubt looking to repeat their first round upset and simultaneously bounce back from defeat against Rossington Main in their last fixture. With the odds already set against them, the away side had the misfortune of several key players missing and took to the field without any substitutes available from the bench.
Wakefield manager Gabe Mozzini was still able to name first-team regulars George Bason, Mason Rubie and captain Danny Youel, whilst the ever-present Cory Woodward continued his run in the side at the heart of a Wakefield back three. Jordan Chippendale and Jack Wilman were his partners, playing out of position, in an unfamiliar backline; the latter making his first start for the club. New signing Lewis Stephens was available to start up-front, with Ray Sibanda making a welcome return from injury to partner him for his first match since September.
The game started in rapid fashion and, in truth, never let up thereafter. The home side drew first blood in the seventh minute with a quick attack down their left, an area of the pitch that was a thorn in Wakefield’s side for the half’s entirety. There was a hint of offside as the Barnoldswick winger delivered a low cross behind the back-tracking Wakefield back three. Andrew Hill ran on to it and, with no sign of a linesman’s flag, fired past the helpless Bason in goal.
The home side had several more gilt-edged chances in the ensuing minutes but, incredibly, Wakefield stayed in the game and hit back in the 14th minute. It was perhaps the goal of the game as Harley Blankley – playing in a deeper midfield position than is usual – received the ball just in to the right side of the Barnoldswick half. He spotted the run of attacking-midfielder Jaydan Sandhu from deep and, in true eye-of-the-needle fashion, delivered a pin-point, in-swinging ball just behind the central-most defender. Sandhu’s control was exquisite to bring the ball down and away from the defender, before he calmly finished with his opposite foot underneath the onrushing Barnoldswick ‘keeper.
Barnoldswick were then shocked 10 minutes later when, despite having continued to pepper the Wakefield goal from all angles, Sandhu bagged a second to put the away side ahead. Stephens, looking to add to his debut goal last week, did much of the hard work, busting a gut to beat the goalkeeper to a deflected cross. He won a penalty when the ‘keeper felled him; Sandhu going on to send the goalkeeper the wrong way with a composed finish in to the side netting.
In a first half so back-and-forth it was sickness inducing, it took just a matter of minutes for the home side to equalise. Having again shown the threat down their left-hand side on several occasions, they progressed down that side for their winger to deliver a cross to the near post. Jack Foster’s run wasn’t tracked and he headed towards goal only for Bason to make a fine save from close-range. Foster was alive to the rebound though, and instantly latched on to it to tap the ball home.
Wakefield, full of grit and determination, still wouldn’t succumb to the greater physicality and experience of Barnoldswick and took an unlikely lead for the second time almost straight from kick-off. Stephens, often isolated but always industrious in his running off the ball, received it down Wakefield’s left after good play from captain Youel to initiate the attack. The striker delivered the ball, which was cleared by the defender as far as Daniel Hernandez. He took a touch to set himself before finishing expertly beyond the reach of the goalkeeper in to the side of the net. Hernandez, playing at wing-back after a recent run of starts as a centre-forward, now has seven goals for the season, with six of those coming in his last eight games.
Wakefield, never in control but always a match for Barnoldswick in the first period, were not quite able to maintain their half-time lead when they were pegged back again in the 37th minute. This time it came from Barnoldswick’s right, as they won the ball high up the field to pounce quickly and turn the Wakefield defence. Another pin-point cross was delivered to the six yard box, which Gareth Hill duly latched on to with his head. Bason somehow got a hand to it on the stretch, but the power of the header was such that the touch was only enough to divert it to the inside of the post and then in to the net.
With everyone able to pause for breath at half-time, Wakefield manager Mozzini – recognising the need to counter Barnoldswick’s threat down the wings – changed to a 4-3-3 formation, seemingly with the hope that the wingers could offer protection to the full-backs and the defence could therefore remain more compact. However the caveat to that was that, without substitutions, the same tiring players would somehow have to make it work.
Wakefield were not helped by the unrelenting pace of the game, and the festival of goals continued almost immediately from the start of the second half. Unfortunately for Wakefield, this time it was all one way traffic. Gareth Hill took just ten minutes to bag a hat-trick with two more goals. The first was a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty area, while the second was a simple header at the back post after a period of sustained Barnoldswick attacks.
The goals continued to arrive for Barnoldswick, with a second from Andrew Hill, who tapped in another excellent cross from the left; and then a towering header from Jack Higgins from a corner to make it seven. Wakefield might have had arguments that Barnoldswick’s sixth could have been offside, but there were no arguments that the home side were deserving of the lead having moved up a gear in the second half.
Notwithstanding the horrific score, Wakefield never gave up and did have several decent goal-scoring chances in the last 20 minutes; the best of those an overhead kick from Stephens which was saved by the goalkeeper at close range. A consolation wasn’t forthcoming, and it was Barnoldswick who had the final say on 90 minutes when Lewis Rawsthorn tapped-in after latching on to the rebound of another excellent Bason save.
Wakefield, having suffered the heaviest defeat in their history, now have just their debut NCEL Division One season to focus on. They will hope to have key players back and available for selection for their next match, away to Glasshoughton Welfare, on Saturday 3rd December 2022: kick-off 15:00PM.
Match Stats
Half Time: 3-3
Full Time: 8-3
Attendance: 163
Wakefield Starting XI:
George Bason – Jack Wilman, Cory Woodward, Jordan Chippendale – Mason Rubie, Harley Blankley, Danny Youel (C), Daniel Hernandez – Jaydan Sandhu – Ray Sibanda, Lewis Stephens
Goals:
7m, Andrew Hill (Barnoldswick Town)
14m, Jaydan Sandhu
24m, Jaydan Sandhu (Pen)
29m, Jack Foster (Barnoldswick Town)
32m, Daniel Hernandez
37m, Gareth Hill (Barnoldswick Town)
47m, Gareth Hill (Barnoldswick Town)
54m, Gareth Hill (Barnoldswick Town)
67m, Andrew Hill (Barnoldswick Town)
71m, Jack Higgins (Barnoldswick Town)
90m, Lewis Raswthorn (Barnoldswick Town)
Wakefield Assists
14m, Harley Blankley
Attempts:
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shot off Target: 2
Barnoldswick Town
First Half
Shots on Target: 6
Shots off Target: 8
Second Half
Shots on Target: 10
Shots off Target: 2