Saturday 2nd September 2023 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC returned to NCEL Division One action this past week, with two fixtures against sides struggling at the bottom of the league providing Wakefield the opportunity to both recover from their FA Vase exit in the previous match, but also to continue to build on their fine league form that had been developing prior to that aforementioned cup match.
Wakefield, yet to play at home on a Saturday, welcomed Yorkshire Amateur to Belle Vue on Tuesday evening, and the 430 fans in attendance were treated to a spectacle, with the home side brushing The Ammers aside with a seven goal showing; top-scorer Billy Mole doubling his season’s tally with a hat-trick, Ashley Flynn finally getting off the mark with a brace and goals apiece for Mason Rubie and Jaydan Sandhu.
Notwithstanding Yorkshire Amateur’s lowly league standing, Wakefield were electric in the game and did everything right; bossing possession, attacking quickly and incisively, defending aggressively and compactly, and never relenting in a game that had been won by half-time. Consequently, confidence and momentum was with Wakefield when they made the trip to Doncaster on Saturday to face Armthorpe Welfare.
As with Yorkshire Amateur, second-bottom side Armthorpe have been struggling this season and came in to the game having lost 7-1 away to Beverley Town in midweek. Nonetheless, Wakefield manager Gabe Mozzini named a strong starting 11, making only one change from the last match – Oliver Rodriguez in for Kieran Ceesay – in a side that is starting to have a more consistent look about it.
That consistency showed as Wakefield started well, and dominated proceedings from the first whistle to the last. They didn’t have to wait long for the chances to start coming either, their best in the opening stages coming in the 14th minute when striker Flynn nearly added to his two goals in midweek after he pounced on to a crafty flick from Mole to race in on goal. However, his first-time shot was parried away by the ‘keeper and the marksman was made to wait for his third goal for the club.
His wait lasted all of 15 minutes, with the no. 9 eventually opening the scoring with a well-timed and well-executed side-foot finish from six yards out, after centre-back Jack Durkin rose high to nod a pin-point Callum Charlton cross in to his path.
With the pattern of the game, and now the scoreline, favouring Wakefield, the healthy contingent of away fans would have expected Wakefield to quickly go on and get another. Armthorpe had other ideas though and, belying their lowly league position, refused to let their heads drop as they threatened to mount a comeback either side of half-time.
Almost immediately after Wakefield had scored, a loss of concentration nearly proved deadly when the ball was given away on the edge of their penalty area, allowing Armthorpe’s Scott Dixon to cleverly lay the ball off for Leon Osborne to shoot; Wakey ‘keeper George Bristol racing off his line and showing sharp reflexes to deny the striker the equaliser.
That alarm bell was there for Wakefield going in to half-time, and it continued to ring just after the re-start when a rare period of sustained pressure from Amrthorpe nearly resulted in an Aaron Pilkington own-goal, when his defensive header from a free-kick looped back and over a scrambling Bristol’s head, who just stretched far enough to tip the ball over the bar.
Wakefield, following a slightly slower start to the second half on their part, did regain their metronomic passing rhythm and again started to carve out good chances to double their lead. Flynn should have done so when Mole charged down the Armthorpe defender to win the ball high up the pitch, before running in on goal and squaring for the former, who, having timed his run to perfection, misjudged a straightforward looking finish from eight yards out to push the ball wide of the post.
Wakefield’s persistence, and composure in the face of ever-increasing aggression and off-the-ball antics from Armthorpe, paid off on the hour mark when centre-back Robbie Miller doubled his side’s lead. The move started from a Danny Youel free-kick which was blocked on the edge of the penalty area, allowing the ball to roll out to Rodriguez on the right wing. He showed fleetness of thought to chest the ball down and volley a cross toward the near post which was met by the head of Miller; the defender scoring his second goal for the club, the last of which interestingly also came away to Armthorpe last year.
Substitutes Kieran Ceesay and Jake Morrison were at the heart of several further good chances for Wakefield, before the game soured in the 70th minute when a fracas delayed the game for five minutes. Goalscorer Miller was at the centre of it, seemingly reacting to something said to him off-the-ball by the player he had been marking closely – Bruno Holden. The two were held apart as first Holden, then Miller, were shown red cards. The incident was partly a result of the referee letting too much go up to that point, and bore the hallmarks of a match he had lost control of.
Wakefield ultimately showed composure and maturity to put the incident to one side, and continued to construct intricate passing sequences with the greater space on the pitch available to them now the game was 10 v 10. Two more goals followed, the first with just under 10 minutes to go when captain Danny Youel capped a fine performance with his first goal of the season when he fired a low shot to the near post from 30 yards out. Morrison – still in touch with Mole in the race to be the first Wakefield player to score 50 goals for the club – added a fourth for Wakefield in the closing stages when substitute Nathan Hawkhead drove through the centre of the pitch to thread a ball through to Jaydan Sandhu, who unselfishly squared for the striker to score his second goal of the season. Morrison is now on 42 goals from 47 games for Wakefield across three seasons, two goals behind Mole on 44 from 60 games.
Just as in the victory over Yorkshire Amateur, despite the dominant scoreline, Wakefield goalkeeper Bristol was made to work for his clean sheet with some fine saves in stoppage time to ensure Wakefield completed their fourth league shut-out in a row, with the game finishing a deserved 4-0 to Wakefield.
After the game, Wakefield manager Mozzini had this to say on their performance, the opposition’s off-the-ball antics and how his first 11 is now shaping up: “It was a day that we had to adapt our game plan due to the physicality of the game , as well as to the pitch itself, which was hard and uneven. What pleased me the most was the fact that we adapted to these conditions well and sped up our build up during transitions. [The} second bit is how we coped with a team trying to make the game too physical in an attempt to stop us from playing our usual football.
[On the red card] I don’t know exactly what each player has done and said, but I thought it was naive of Robbie to engage in that situation. Once you engage in it, it becomes a gamble and you never know how the referee will deal with it. So, we expect more experience from our players.
For Armthorpe in general… One thing is to play with heart and grind out results. Another thing is to do dirty things behind the referee’s back with the sole intent of provoking players. Is that how they want to get points? It shouldn’t be.”
Mozzini added: “Our starting 11 seems fairly settled now and our system finally came together with these players. I’m definitely pleased about that. But, we still have players going away [and suspended], so the depth we have on the bench will be very important if we want to fight for the title.”
That title fight hots up this weekend as Belle Vue stadium will finally play host to a Saturday afternoon kick-off. And what a game it promises to be as local rivals Horbury Town are the visitors, with Wakefield hoping to eclipse their league attendance record for the fixture and boost their already league-high attendance average of 375; kick-off is at 15:00PM on Saturday 9th September 2023.
Armthorpe Welfare Match Stats
Half Time: 0-1
Full Time: 0-4
Possession:
Armthorpe Welfare 26% – 74% Wakefield AFC
Attendance: 113
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
George Bristol – Aaron Pilkington, Jack Durkin, Robbie Miller, Callum Charlton – Jaydan Sandhu, Danny Youel (C), Billy Mole – Mason Rubie, Ashley Flynn, Oliver Rodriguez
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
58m, Kieran Ceesay for Mason Rubie
58m, Jake Morrison for Ashley Flynn
75m, Nathan Hawkhead for Oliver Rodriguez
80m, Sebastian Losa for Billy Mole
Goals:
36m, Ashley Flynn
59m, Robbie Miller
81m, Danny Youel
84m, Jake Morrison
Wakefield AFC Assists:
36m, Jack Durkin
59m, Oliver Rodriguez
81m, Jaydan Sandhu
84m, Jaydan Sandhu
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 4
Second Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shot off Target: 5
Armthorpe Welfare
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 5
Yorkshire Amateur Match Stats
Half Time: 5-0
Full Time: 7-0
Possession:
Wakefield AFC 63% – 37% Yorkshire Amateur
Attendance: 430
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
George Bristol – Aaron Pilkington, Jack Durkin, Robbie Miller, Callum Charlton – Jaydan Sandhu, Danny Youel (C), Billy Mole – Mason Rubie, Ashley Flynn, Kieran Ceesay
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
51m, Sebastian Losa for Jaydan Sandhu
55m, Cameron Barnett for Billy Mole
55m, Oliver Rodriguez for Mason Rubie
59m, Nathan Hawkhead for Danny Youel
Goals:
6m, Mason Rubie
23m, Billy Mole
26m, Billy Mole
34m, Ashley Flynn
41m, Jaydan Sandhu
54m, Billy Mole (Penalty)
69m, Ashley Flynn
Wakefield AFC Assists:
6m, Ashley Flynn
23m, Jaydan Sandhu
34m, Aaron Pilkington
41m, Billy Mole
69m, Nathan Hawkhead
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 7
Shots off Target: 5
Second Half
Shots on Target: 7
Shot off Target: 8
Yorkshire Amateur
First Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 2