Saturday 7th March 2026 | Austin Ainsworth
On a run of 16 NCEL Division One games unbeaten and eight consecutive wins, Wakefield AFC returned to league action at home to Doncaster City on Saturday. Only another win would do for The Falcons, who still retain a slither of hope of catching leaders Dearne & District – nine points above them – and, at the very least, are looking to cement their second-placed spot in the league with both Worsbrough Bridge and Harrogate Railway close behind them.
18th placed Doncaster City came into the game with three wins in their last five and, as with any opposition in the NCEL, were a potential banana skin for Wakefield having recently defeated third placed Harrogate Railway.
It’s a good job then that Wakefield – having scored at least three goals in all of their last five games, with just three goals conceded in that time – are becoming predictable in the politest, least boring sense of the word. Each week has seen them copy and paste excellent performances, as they have brushed all opposition aside with utter dominance – and Saturday was no different.
Wakey manager Jason Blunt made just two changes to the side victorious over Club Thorne Colliery in their previous match; Bolton Makwedza coming in for injured player-of-the-month Matthew Swift, whilst Eliel Anku replaced Jerome Greaves up-front.
There was no chance that left-winger Ethan Kachosa would lose his spot, having posted a number of scintillating performances during which he has terrorised opposition full-backs. Doncaster City’s right-back similarly fell victim to him, though perhaps tried some mind-games early on with some rough, off-the-ball tactics. However, that wasn’t enough to stop Kachosa, who bagged his third goal in five games after just three minutes.
The move started on the left, with Kachosa skilfully cutting inside as he drifted past several would-be markers, over towards the right side. He then played a slick one-two with right-winger Basile Zottos, before slotting a low, controlled shot past the stretching ‘keeper in at the far post.
Just as in previous games, Wakefield quite quickly settled into controlled, confident possession as they moved the ball about with ease. However, for a side so used to having the ball, they have proved equally adept at lighting-fast counter-attacks. And Wakefield’s lead was doubled just seven minutes later through one such move.
A ball was intercepted on the edge of the box and fell kindly to Tom Hinton – again occupying a deeper midfield position. He turned with one touch, and with his second picked out the run of Anku with a wonderful, perfectly-weighted pass that dropped within an inch of its intended landing-zone, just over the head of the last defender. Anku raced on and, one-v-one with the goalkeeper, cooly slid his shot round him for his fourth goal of the season.
Wakefield then saw a series of good chances go amiss, the best when Jay Davies was played in by a similar Hinton pass to the one for the second goal. However, under pressure from the Doncaster defence and struggling to get the ball under control, he didn’t get his shot right.
Nevertheless, the third goal did come for Wakefield in the 34th minute in the most unexpected fashion. Captain Chris Salt is no stranger to a goal, with a healthy contribution from the centre of defence usually through towering headers. However, he stunned himself and everyone else in the ground when he strode out from defence and exchanged a pass with Akeel Francis 30 yards out. Things suddenly opened up for the defender, who then dribbled past two men before – with his weaker left foot – firing a vicious, looping and swerving shot at goal that left the ‘keeper flat-footed as it found its way into goal.
Wakefield remained in control of the game in the second half, though Doncaster did see somewhat of an improvement in terms of their own sights of goal. Wakey goalkeeper Drew Bremer – on the way to his 12th clean-sheet – made some routine stops before an outstanding save in the 70th minute when a sloppy back-pass left a Doncaster attacker in on goal.
That was as close as the away side ever came to threatening a comeback, with the scoreline only remaining at 3-0 through some good saves from the Doncaster City goalkeeper; the best in stoppage time when substitute centre-back Sam Pashley – on for his debut in place of Salt – almost capped an eye-catching cameo with a close range header that was stopped with a fine reflex save.
The final result meant Wakefield extended their winning run to nine – their best ever run in the NCEL – with a mightily impressive aggregate scoreline in those run of fixtures of 28-4.
Wakefield will now need to carry that form into what is an increasingly tricky, and pivotal run of fixtures. Their next game sees them travel to direct play-off rivals Harrogate Railway Athletic on Tuesday evening (kick-off 19:45PM, 10/03/2026), before another away trip to Leeds UFCA on Saturday 14th March; kick-off 15:00PM.
Match Stats
Half Time: 0-3
Full Time: 0-3
Attendance: 301
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Drew Bremer – Bolton Makwedza, Chris Salt (C), Mo Conteh, Owen Thomas – Tom Hinton, Jay Davies – Basile Zottos, Akeel Francis, Ethan Kachosa – Eliel Anku
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
74m, Jerome Greaves for Eliel Anku
78m, Oli Robinson for Ethan Kachosa
78m, Samuel Pashley for Chris Salt
81m, Jordao Costa for Akeel Francis
Possession:
Wakefield AFC 76% – 24% Doncaster City
Passes Completed:
Wakefield AFC 434 – 163 Doncaster City
Goals:
3m, Ethann Kachosa
11m, Eliel Anku
34m, Chris Salt
Wakefield AFC Assists:
3m, Basile Zottos
11m, Tom Hinton
34m, Akeel Francis
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Basile Zottos (Yellow)
Drew Bremer (Yellow)
Jerome Greaves (Yellow)
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 7
Shots off Target: 1
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shot off Target: 5
Doncaster City
First Half
Shots on Target: 0
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 1