Saturday 1st August 2026 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC made a winning, if not wholly convincing, start to the NCEL Division One season after seeing off Winterton Rangers 1-0 in the 26-27 season’s inaugural game. A game in which Wakefield at times looked defensively vulnerable, and where they didn’t quite achieve the usual, free-flowing football that has become the norm under manager Jason Blunt.
This past week Wakefield welcomed Hemsworth Miners Welfare to The Hunters Stadium on Wednesday evening for the first round of the league cup, before then travelling to face Goole AFC on Saturday in the league; with Goole a side tipped as likely candidates to be in and around the top of the league this season despite losing their opening league game.
Encouragingly for Wakefield, the performance in both games was much improved from their victory over Winterton; Blunt’s men largely controlling both matches with some eye-catching, attacking football and largely back to somewhere near their usual, silky-smooth selves in possession. Ironically however, results didn’t match the performances, with an early-season pattern emerging from the first three games of one too many lapses in concentration gifting the opposition chances and an overall vulnerability to the counter-attack.
Blunt made two changes to the side from the opening day on Wednesday night against Hemsworth, with James Eyles and James Woodhouse coming in for Ify Ofoegbu and Oli Robinson. And the home side made a blistering start, with confidence on the ball and two huge opportunities in the first 10 minutes drawing fine saves from the goalkeeper.
However, the aforementioned gremlins served to render Wakefield’s dominance meaningless when a loose ball was claimed by Hemsworth on the right with Wakefield out of shape and not in an appropriate position to stop the ensuing simple pass forward to the Hemsworth striker. He split the defence too easily to touch and run straight in to the box as the ball bounced up, before executing a wonderfully weighted lob over Drew Bremer in the Wakefield goal and into the back of the net.
Minutes later Wakefield again ceded possession on the edge of their own box, making a lucky escape as the Hemsworth attacker shot just wide of goal.
Wakefield eventually composed themselves and on 27 minutes Kenzie Dillon and Eyles combined for an equaliser. The two were Wakefield’s most promising players; with the former floating around midfield as he demonstrated strength, control and an eye for a pass, whilst the latter held things up nicely and was always on the move. For the goal Sam Drake played the ball out to Craig Nellthorpe on the left, who played an outside of the boot pass inside for Dillon to touch and turn, before threading a perfect pass into the box for Eyles’ diagonal run. The striker displayed his finishing prowess with a deadly, first time finish with his left foot high toward the near post from the angle that left the goalkeeper no chance.
The second half went much the same way in every sense, as Wakefield were constantly on the attack and appeared in total control, before a quick break again saw Hemsworth take the lead. As Wakefield pushed forward with central defenders Josh Lockwood and Matthew Swift on the halfway line, a long pass was sent forward for striker Harry Shepherd, who spun and raced in behind. He held the backtracking Wakefield defence off before finishing cooly past Bremer amidst protests from the home side that he was offside, though replays suggest he had timed his run perfectly.
Wakefield upped the pressure and swiftly drew things level for a second time, with Dillon rising high at the back post from a wicked, in-swinging Curtis Morrison corner to head in his first Wakefield goal.
Chances kept coming for Wakefield as the game moved toward stoppage time, before substitute Ify Ofoegbu thought he had sealed victory for his side in the 89th minute. Just before that Morrison dazzled down the left and cut inside, leaving his marker in the dust, before looping a cross for the unmarked Ofoegbu to nod home at the back post.
However, Wakefield were cruelly pegged back once more in the fourth minute of stoppage time when a free-kick was awarded to Hemsworth 30 yards from goal. The ball was played to the right side of the box where Bismark Osei – whose starting position when the ball was kicked was at least a yard offside – unsurprisingly won the race to the ball with his head start and finished smartly. The linesman’s flag never came and with that, the game moved to penalties.
Wakefield started well enough with Morrison and Callum Nicell scoring the first two, as Hemsworth missed their second to give Wakefield the early advantage. However, Wakefield missed their next two as Hemsworth scored, which left Nellthorpe needing to score to keep Wakefield in the game, however his shot was sent high into the stand and meant Hemsworth progressed to the next round.
The Falcons had to dust themselves off quickly for Saturday’s trip to Goole, which saw Blunt revert to the 3-4-2-1 formation seen regularly last season, his decision to do so most probably influenced by the prevalence of defensive vulnerability in the first two games but more so to accommodate the return of key players from last season Mo Conteh and Owen Thomas, the former completing a three man defence and the latter replacing Nellthorpe to play at left wing-back.
The formation also meant Morrison and Dillon operated as narrower, inside forwards behind Eyles. The move worked as Wakefield again looked tantalising on the ball and frequently got into good positions in what was largely a closely fought and even first half. Though Wakefield were again pleasing on the eye, the half was not without issue as a couple of lapses saw big chances presented to Goole, one in which Bremer made an excellent save at the near post.
After that wobble midway through the half Wakefield began to find their groove, though saw their momentum knocked after a long stoppage in the 35th minute following an injury to the Goole goalkeeper. With no back-up available, Goole reverted to bringing on one of their outfield substitutes to play in goal.
He wasn’t tested in the first half but would become busy in the second, as Wakefield moved up a gear. However, for all the visitor’s dominance, just like in midweek, they fell a goal behind on 60 minutes when a slack pass was intercepted in midfield. Nicell recovered the ball though sought too much time as a robust tackle – arguably a foul, but not given – saw him robbed and Goole advanced towards the Wakefield box. Ross Duggan was played into the box with a good pass and finished smartly past Bremer to put his side ahead.
Wakefield were undeterred and continued to press forward, finally testing the stand-in goalkeeper when Wakefield’s best player Morrison – increasingly looking likely to be a creative force for his side this season – weaved inside from the right to fire a shot toward goal. The ‘keeper spilled and Eyles, showing quick reactions, desire and excellent positioning stole in to finish from one yard – the goal Eyles second of the season and Morrison’s third assist in as many games.
For a while it seemed as though it was when, not if, for Wakefield, who were camped in Goole’s final third and repeatedly peppered the goal. Wayward finishing and some incredible last-ditch defending saw the score remain level, before Swift and substitute Shay Evans-Booth both saw close-range shots cleared from the line in the 80th minute in a phase of play where it seemed it would have been harder for Wakefield not to score.
To their credit, Goole came back into the game and finished strongly, as the waves of Wakefield attacks calmed. With that it appeared as though both sides would have to settle for a point, until ex-Wakey player Jerome Greaves popped up in the last action of stoppage time to break Wakefield hearts.
Goole broke from midfield down the left and played Greaves into the box where his shot toward the centre of the goal deflected off a scrambling Wakefield defender to wrong-foot Bremer and creep in at the near post. It was a cruel ending to the game for Wakefield who, as a result, were left with nothing to show for a largely positive performance for the second time in a week.
The result leaves Wakefield 10th in the league after two games. The season is long and only two sides have taken 6 points from the opening fixtures, so Wakefield – particularly given the signs of improved chemistry and fluidity – will be confident they can fight their way up the league.
This period of the season is a time for work, rather than panic, and Wakefield will do that and look to bounce back on Tuesday evening when they welcome Ilkley Town to The Hunters Stadium; kick-off 19:45PM on 04/08/2026.
Goole AFC Match Stats
Half Time: 0-0
Full Time: 1-2
Attendance: 369
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Drew Bremer – Matthew Swift, Josh Lockwood, Mo Conteh – Zak Cottle, Sam Drake, Callum Nicell, Owen Thomas (C) – Curtis Morrison, Kenzie Dillon – James Eyles
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
68m, Shay Evans-Booth for James Eyles
68m, Ify Ofoegbu for Kenzie Dillon
Goals:
60m, Ross Duggan
66m, James Eyles
90m+3, Jerome Greaves
Wakefield AFC Assists:
66m, Curtis Morrison
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 6
Second Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shot off Target: 6
Goole AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 5
Shots off Target: 3
Hemsworth Miners Welfare Match Stats
Half Time: 1-1
Full Time: 3-3 (Hemsworth Miners Welfare Win 3-2 On Penalties)
Attendance: 160
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Drew Bremer – Zak Cottle, Josh Lockwood, Matthew Swift (C), Craig Nellthorpe – Sam Drake, Callum Nicell – James Woodhouse, Kenzie Dillon, Curtis Morrison – James Eyles
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
56m, Ify Ofoegbu for James Eyles
56m, Mason Rubie for Zak Cottle
56m, Oli Robinson for James Woodhouse
56m, Emmannuel Amissah for Josh Lockwood
90m, Luke Mallinder for Ify Ofoegbu
Goals:
12m, Luke Budimir
26m, James Eyles
67m, Harry Shepherd
70m, Kenzie Dillon
89m, Ify Ofoegbu
90m+4, Bismark Osei
Wakefield AFC Assists:
26m, Kenzie Dillon
70m, Curtis Morrison
89m, Curtis Morrison
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Josh Lockwood (Yellow)
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 1
Second Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shot off Target: 6
Hemsworth Miners Welfare
First Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 1