Friday 30th January 2026 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC welcomed Winterton Rangers to The Hunters Stadium on Friday night, for what was only their third match of a severely weather-disrupted January; that after yet another postponement to what was set to be a mouth-watering tie away to fellow promotion-chasers Harrogate Railway earlier in the week.
With Pontefract’s state-of-the-art artificial pitch largely impervious to inclement weather, there was no chance of another cancellation on Friday night, meaning The Falcons lined up for their third home NCEL Division One game in succession, looking to extend their winning run of games to four and unbeaten run to 12.
The visitors came into the match with just one win in five and sat third from bottom in the league, having largely struggled this season following relegation last year from the Premier Division. However, they would have been buoyed by a strong and stubborn showing the last time these two sides met, which eventually resulted in a narrow win for Wakefield through a late Bolton Makwedza goal.
Just as well that Makwedza made a timely return to the Wakefield starting line-up for this game, coming in at right-back for Joshua Burns, in what was otherwise an unchanged side to the one victorious over Brigg Town last time out. That meant manager Jason Blunt again stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation that has seen his team win their last three matches.
Despite a positive run of form, the wins have by no means come easy for Wakefield of late. The last match against Brigg was a real battle that saw Wakefield show real resilience before eventually hanging-on to a lead taken late, whilst the two previous fixtures against teams hovering in and around the relegation zone saw late goals lead to score-lines that provided an illusion of comfort in games that were anything but.
Friday night’s match followed that same pattern, and the pattern of the previous match-up against Winterton, with Wakefield in complete control of possession but never fully able to take control of the tie.
Falcons striker Akeel Francis perhaps could’ve changed the course of the game in just the first minute when he was presented a glorious opportunity in the box following a slick attack down the right-hand side, however he was caught under the ball as his attempted header looped up in the air to leave an easy save for the visiting ‘keeper.
Wakefield were then given a warning after 17 minutes when Winterton were afforded too much time and space in the final third, with their attack leading to a fierce shot striking the upright of Drew Bremer’s goal.
A bizarre, and seemingly pivotal moment, then appeared to give Wakefield the upper hand 10 minutes from half-time, when Winterton’s Louis Boyd lost his head and made the transformation from footballer to professional wrestler; Basile Zottos his victim following a nothing challenge after which Boyd suplexed the Wakefield winger to the floor. That moment led to a yellow card for Zottos, but a red card for the Winterton man.
In reality the numerical advantage for Wakefield never became apparent, with the home side never able to take charge of the game. There were a number of swift attacking moves, long periods of confident, controlled possession but those were matched by crosses going awry, the last pass failing to find its man and a resultant lack of shots on goal.
And, just before half-time, it was the depleted away side who could have taken a lead into the break when a quick counter saw their man spot Bremer off his line as he launched a near-perfect shot from the halfway line that looked destined for goal. Bremer, furiously back-pedalling, kept his eye on the ball though and repeated his heroics from his last, man-of-the-match display to somehow claw the ball off the line as he went tumbling into his own net.
Wakefield, predictably, turned things up a notch after half-time, with heavy pressure seeing Tom Hinton and Francis both go close in quick succession. An opening goal did soon follow from what people may presume was an unlikely source. However, that assumption wouldn’t do justice to the story of Owen Thomas’ recent upward trajectory. The full-back has constantly improved throughout the season, becoming one of Wakefield’s most reliable and consistent performers. And, with five assists in his last four games, he’s also proving to be a difference maker. It was arguably no surprise then that he doubled his goal tally to two for the season and opened the scoring in the 54th minute.
The goal was a fine team move, with a composed period of possession seeing the ball recycled from left to right, eventually dropping to Hinton 30 yards from goal. The midfielder swung a tantalising cross into the box, at which point Thomas – involved earlier in the move – timed his run to the box perfectly to guide a header back across goal into the far corner.
That should have been the moment Wakefield took control of the result against 10 men but, largely to Winterton’s credit, that never happened. The visiting side didn’t allow their heads to drop and obdurately stuck to their task.
As a result the second goal didn’t came and that led to a final 10 minutes that was far more stressful for Wakefield than it could have been. With Wakefield having been unable to kill the game, the danger was always that there was still a chance Winterton could spring a shock on the home side – and that moment seemed to have arrived with two minutes to go.
A long ball was rocketed forward and went bouncing over Matthew Swift in the Wakefield defence. Bremer was caught between venturing out of his box to intercept it or staying on his line, and that allowed the Winterton attacker to steal in on goal for what looked certain to be an equaliser. Wakefield have been here before in recent games though and good fortune has remained on their side, and it did so here as Mo Conteh raced back to clear the shot off the line, before the follow up was fired over the bar.
Subsequently, just as in recent games, Wakefield – having lived dangerously enough – shifted up a gear to add a late gloss to the scoreline through substitutes Eliel Anku and Jerome Greaves.
First up was Anku with his first goal for the club, as he was well positioned to tap-in Greaves’ blocked effort on the goal line, following some nice wing-play from Ethan Kachosa. Then in the third minute of stoppage time Greaves scored a similar goal when Kachosa again dazzled on the left-hand side to deliver a cross to the back post. Fellow substitute Oli Robinson controlled and shot towards goal, with the rebound falling to Greaves, facing away from goal. The striker subsequently showed great invention to back-heel the ball into the back of the net for his second goal for the club.
Those two goals sealed the points and ensured the scoreline better matched Wakefield’s level of superiority, if not fully telling the story of what was in fact another tense and tight affair for Wakefield. Regardless of that, it meant Wakefield remained second in the league with an increasing advantage over those below them – notwithstanding games in hand. Promisingly for Wakefield, it also ensured they extended what is their best run of form this season as we move towards the decisive, “championship” months.
Wakefield now have another free midweek before returning to the usual 15:00PM Saturday slot when they visit Goole next time out on 07/02/2026.
Match Stats
Half Time: 0-0
Full Time: 3-0
Attendance: 258
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Drew Bremer – Bolton Makwedza, Matthew Swift, Mo Conteh, Owen Thomas, Callum Nicell, Billy Mole (C) – Basile Zottos, Tom Hinton, Ethan Kachosa – Akeel Francis
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
64m, Eliel Anku for Botlon Makwedza
64m, Chris Salt for Basile Zottos
81m, Jerome Greaves for Billy Mole
84m, Oli Robinson for Akeel Francis
90m, Lance Friedrich for Callum Nicell
Possession:
Wakefield AFC 72% – 28% Winterton Rangers
Passes Completed:
Wakefield AFC 465 – 132 Winterton Rangers
Goals:
54m, Owen Thomas
90m, Eliel Anku
90m+3, Jerome Greaves
Wakefield AFC Assists:
54m, Tom Hinton
90m, Jerome Greaves
90m+3, Oli Robinson
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Basile Zottos (Yellow)
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shot off Target: 7
Winterton Rangers
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 1