Saturday 6th April 2024 | Austin Ainsworth
With all the sides around Wakefield AFC in the NCEL Division One struggling to fit their games in, Wakefield – having played more games than their immediate play-off rivals – again had just one game to fit in this past week; Louth Town the visitors to Belle Vue on Saturday.
After a run of tough fixtures for Wakefield, mid-table Louth were, on paper at least, a more straight-forward proposition for the home side, having lost five of their last six games. However, the away side’s solitary victory did come in their most recent fixture, with Louth also having recent form for taking points off other play-off hopefuls in the league.
With that in mind, with no room for any slip-ups, Wakefield manager Junior Roberti named a strong side, making just one change to the team victorious away at Wombwell in the previous week; Oliver Rodriguez dropping to the bench after suffering a knock in that victory as Jordan Helliwell came in at right wing-back.
The latter, still finding his feet as a Wakefield player having featured primarily as a midfielder since his move to the club, looked a perfect match for the wing-back role as he played his best game yet, making an instant impact in the build up to Wakefield’s first goal in just the sixth minute. As he did throughout the match, he showed pace and aggression to nip in front of his marker on the right wing to control the ball and burst infield. Having beat his man he passed to Sebastian Losa who, with eyes in the back of his head, played the ball on to Slater Barnes on the left wing. Barnes subsequently delivered an inch-perfect cross for striker Ben Gelder to nod home his 10th goal in 23 games this season.
With their confident start rewarded with an early goal, Wakefield continued to dominate in every metric, doubling their lead just two minutes later though a fine finish from Losa. Wakefield won a corner-kick after excellent work from Mason Rubie and Helliwell down the right, with Jaydan Sandhu on hand to deliver a pin-point cross to the near post. Losa did well to time his diagonal run across the box perfectly to the meet the ball just as it bounced in front of him, before then executing a half-volley past the ‘keeper at the near post.
The game was threatening to run away from Louth, with Wakefield at their free-flowing best as further chances came and went for the home side through the goal-hungry duo of Gelder and Barnes. However, there was a chink of light for Louth in the 22nd minute when Wakefield again succumbed to a long throw-in as they had done in their previous match at Wombwell. The goal was messy from a Wakefield perspective as Louth won the first header at the near post, before Bailey Wright was quickest to react at the back post to poke the ball home as Wakefield’s backline came out second-best in the goal-mouth scramble.
The set-back wasn’t ideal for Wakefield but, to their credit, they continued to assert their dominance and could have easily reinstated their two-goal cushion before half-time. First, Gelder was thwarted by the Louth goalkeeper as he swivelled to meet Losa’s pass in the box and stung the goalkeeper’s palms with a close-range shot; and then Sandhu again tested the busy Louth shot-stopper with a fierce free-kick from the edge of the box just before half-time.
It was more of the same for The Falcons in the second half, Barnes going closer and closer with two decent efforts at the far post before eventually getting the inevitable goal his performance deserved just shy of the hour-mark. And what a goal it was as the equally excellent Gelder pounced on a loose Louth pass to play Barnes in on the right of the box. Barnes made it look effortless as he took one touch to knock the ball out of his feet and accelerate pass the hapless defender, before cooly finishing low to the far post to ensure he and his strike partner Gelder both bagged a goal and assist each; with Barnes himself having now contributed a staggering 14 goals and six assists in just 15 games.
Only one Wakefield player can rival the frequency of Barnes’ goal contributions; Sandhu is that man, and he also completed the feat of a goal and assist in the game 15 minutes from time, after substitute Rodriguez’s quick feet in the box drew a foul and provided the former with the chance to score from the spot. Sandhu did so confidently, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with the purest of strikes in to the side-netting for his 15th goal of the season and 43rd goal involvement overall.
Wakefield’s margin of victory could have been greater, as chances continued to come thick and fast for the dominant home side right until the final whistle. In the end the four goals were more than enough to secure the three points and send Wakefield back to the league’s summit, albeit having played at least two more games than all of the five teams below them.
Nevertheless, the win should almost definitely secure Wakefield’s play-off position and – with 18 goals in their last four victories – Wakefield are also finding form at just the right time. With the play-offs looming on the horizon, Wakefield now divert their attention back to the West Riding County Cup, looking to take their good form in to a tantalising semi-final away to Step Four Pontefract Collieries on Tuesday 9th April 2024; kick-off 19:45PM.
Match Stats
Half Time: 2-1
Full Time: 4-1
Attendance: 433
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
George Bristol – Jack Durkin (C), Jack Cairney, T’nique Fishley – Jordan Helliwell, Sebastian Losa, Jaydan Sandhu, Callum Charlton – Mason Rubie, Ben Gelder, Mason Rubie
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
46m, Oliver Rodriguez for Mason Rubie
57m, Aaron Pilkington for T’nique Fishley
61m, Lewis Stephens for Sebastian Losa
72m, Ben Holmes for Ben Gelder
Possession:
Wakefield AFC 78% – 22% Louth Town
Passes Completed:
Wakefield AFC 312 – 87 Louth Town
Goals:
6m, Ben Gelder
8m, Sebastian Losa
22m, Bailey Wright
57m, Slater Barnes
75m, Jaydan Sandhu (Pen)
Wakefield AFC Assists:
6m, Slater Barnes
8m, Jaydan Sandhu
57m, Ben Gelder
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 5
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 6
Shot off Target: 4
Louth Town
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 1