Saturday 21st February 2026 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC had the rare luxury of a Saturday afternoon, 15:00PM kick-off at The Hunters Stadium this past week; a new home that has become – excusing the pun – a happy hunting ground for The Falcons this season, but one in which they have had to get used to playing on a Friday evening.
331 fans were in attendance to see the return of Stephen Bodle and Lee Needham on Saturday, now in charge of Selby Town having left Wakefield earlier in the season. After a tricky start, the duo have instigated somewhat of a turnaround at their new club, with Selby coming into the game on the back of a good run of form – six wins in their last 10 and just one defeat in five.
Notwithstanding recent results, Wakefield would have been well aware of what to expect from Selby; a strong, well organised and physical side who will have travelled with the added edge provided to them by Bodle and Needham no doubt wanting some revenge on their former club.
Although Selby may have had a preconception of where any weaknesses in Wakefield may lie, in truth Jason Blunt’s version of Wakefield are vastly different to the one their old managerial team would remember. That tells in recent results, achieved through varying styles and levels of performance, but largely with the same outcome; Wakefield now on a run of six wins in a row and 14 unbeaten, having scored three goals or more in four of their last five matches.
That recent run of form has brought goals – and subsequently points – by the barrel full, and an attractive style of play achieved through possession, speed and in-game dominance. However that observation alone would ignore the underlying strength, resilience and fitness of this Wakefield side, who have shown a winner’s mentality to go with their technical skills.
That again proved true on Saturday, as Blunt made just one change to his Wakefield side – again set up in a 4-2-3-1 – but with Jerome Greaves coming in for the suspended Billy Mole. As in the recent away win over Goole, that meant Tom Hinton moved into the midfield two, whilst Akeel Francis played as the “10” behind Greaves.
In terms of possession, passing and chance-creation, it was by no means a vintage performance from The Falcons, who laid the foundation for victory by first matching the physicality of Selby. Whether as a result of that, or by intention, there was also more of a clinical, direct, edge to the home side; with Wakefield seeing their best moments in the first half come through quick counters rather than sustained possession.
That first showed in the sixth minute when the ball was played up to Greaves who, as he did all afternoon, picked out Hinton with a well-judged, square pass. Hinton skilfully controlled the ball and dummied a shot to create space, before forcing the ‘keeper into a scramble to save his deflected effort, which then led to Francis nearly poaching a goal were it not for another good save.
Aside from another well-saved Hinton effort, there was little by way of goalscoring opportunity for Wakefield until they eventually broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. This time there was a trademark passing move out from the back as nearly every Wakefield player had a hand in moving the ball from side-to-side and then further upfield, before Owen Thomas drove forward from the left and picked out a wonderful, curling pass towards the right of the Selby penalty area. Basile Zottos timed his run to perfection and then still had the calm and confidence to execute a sublime, side-footed volley into the back of the net.
Just a little over 10 minutes later, Hinton had all but sealed the points with his 20th and 21st goals of the season; both assisted by Greaves. First up Hinton capitalised on a defensive error to race toward goal on the left before squaring to Greaves. The big striker initially got his footwork wrong, but recovered with enough poise to give the ball back to Hinton, who arrowed a clever finish low into the corner to make it 2-0.
Then, almost immediately after the game restarted, the two combined again. Ethan Kachosa battled well in midfield to win a 50/50, before drilling a pass into the feet of Greaves. He showed quick thinking with his back to goal to clip an incisive pass around the corner and through the defence, which saw Hinton meet the ball in the box. He still had work to do as he was running to the left, away from goal, but struck with his left foot, low and hard to the near post, and left the goalkeeper no chance and – at 3-0 – the game seemingly over.
However, Wakefield have had some second-half struggles in their winning run, most recently almost throwing away a 3-0 half-time lead to Crowle Colts who pulled two back and could have equalised late on. Any fear that that could happen again amplified just before half-time, when Selby made it 3-1 through a long range effort. Wakey goalkeeper Drew Bremer – imperious since his arrival at the club and error free – will probably think he could have done more with the curling shot to his right; but, somewhat unsighted and unable to shift his feet quick enough, the ball ultimately squirmed in at the post to leave Selby a glimmer of hope.
The Falcons made sure it was nothing more than a glimmer of hope though, and came out with the bit between their teeth after the interval. They pressed high and kept the ball high up the pitch. And, during a period that saw several Wakefield corners, one of which seeing Matthew Swift going close with a header on the line, the fatal, fourth goal eventually arrived.
A Hinton corner in the 50th minute was initially cleared but he raced to recover the ball on the right and, not content with lengthening his lead at the top of the Wakefield goalscoring chart, he did the same with the assists chart and whipped a beautiful ball to the back post. Bolton Makwedza, Wakefield’s fifth-highest goalscorer this season with an impressive five goals from defence, was on hand to grab another as he met the cross with an audacious scissor-kick volley that went into goal off the helpless goalkeeper – that being the 16th goal that Hinton has created for a teammate.
From then on Wakefield maintained their levels of effort and professionalism, seeing the game out with minimal fuss and limiting Selby to scraps; the biggest excitement coming in stoppage time when Wakefield substitute Eliel Anku saw a goal-bound effort saved, after a challenge on him that should have been a penalty.
Nevertheless, the four earlier goals and the overall performance from Wakefield were more than sufficient to seal a deserved three points. That meant Wakefield remain second in the league, now just six points adrift of Dearne & District but having played a game more. Meanwhile Selby dropped to 13th.
Wakefield now enter into an even more pivotal run of games, next facing a tricky trip to Club Thorne Colliery and their weather battered pitch on Tuesday evening (19:45PM, 24/02/2026), before a huge tie next week at home to their nearest challengers in the league, third placed Worsbrough Bridge, who visit on Tuesday 3rd March 2026; kick-off 19:45PM.
Match Stats
Half Time: 3-1
Full Time: 4-1
Attendance: 331
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Drew Bremer – Bolton Makwedza, Matthew Swift, Mo Conteh, Owen Thomas – Tom Hinton, Callum Nicell – Basile Zottos, Akeel Francis (C), Ethan Kachosa – Jerome Greaves
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
68m, Jay Davies for Callum Nicell
74m, Eliel Anku for Jerome Greaves
82m, Oli Robinson for Ethan Kachosa
85m, Jordao Costa for Tom Hinton
Possession:
Wakefield AFC 66% – 34% Selby Town
Passes Completed:
Wakefield AFC 398 – 168 Selby Town
Goals:
23m, Basile Zottos
35m, Tom Hinton
38m, Tom Hinton
45m, Ebenezer Ansah
50m, Bolton Makwedza
Wakefield AFC Assists:
23m, Owen Thomas
35m, Jerome Greaves
38m, Jerome Greaves
50m, Tom Hinton
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Mo Conteh (Yellow)
Ethan Kachosa (Yellow)
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 8
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shot off Target: 3
Selby Town
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 1
Second Half
Shots on Target: 9
Shots off Target: 1