Saturday 21st September 2024 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC took a break from their indifferent NCEL Division One season – one that sees them in the bottom half of the table after losing their last two fixtures – as they were in action in both the League Cup Second Round and The FA Vase Second Qualifying Round this past week. And it was a tale of two cups, as Wakey experienced the best and worst of knock-out competition.
First up was a trip to Worsbrough Bridge Athletic on Tuesday night, who have had a very poor start to the season, but reached the second round after a win on penalties over Appleby Frodingham at the start of August.
Wakefield will have been weary of Worsbrough’s difficult, sloping pitch but, even with the expected changes to their own line-up for the cup game – and after two disappointing games – will likely have gone in to the game confident of a win.
Matthew Leaper returned to the side to start in goal, as did Stephen Smith at right-back. Ben Holmes, Kieran Haigh and Jamie Allsop formed a new look, three-man defence, whilst Nana Nyarko and Jodi Tiffany – recently signed by the club – both made their first starts in midfield. Kenan McKenzie-Grey also made a rare start on the wing.
With wing-backs Callum Charlton and Smith often more advanced and in central areas around Wakefield’s lone holding midfielder, the formation often resembled a 3-3-3-1. Tiffany, ostensibly signed as a defender or holding midfielder, started as the pivot, but that role soon fell to the excellent Nyarko, with Tiffany becoming the more advanced of the two.
Nyarko was industrious in midfield, making timely interceptions, and he helped Wakefield keep possession with his range of passing. However, it was Worsbrough who took a shock lead in the 21st minute when Joshua Brown sprung on to a failed Wakefield clearance in the box to toe-poke in to goal.
Things could have gotten even worse straight from the kick-off, as a Worsbrough player raced in on goal but was denied by an excellent Leaper save when 1-v-1. It was route one stuff, but worked, with Wakefield again lucky to escape minutes later when a ball over the top was dispatched by the Worsbrough striker in to Wakefield’s net, only for the away side to be saved by a tight offside call.
After two poor performances and results, the first 30 minutes of this tie were certainly not the tonic that Wakefield wanted, however McKenzie-Grey sparked life in to The Falcons with an equaliser on 33 minutes. His bravery in sliding in to get his foot to a deflected Smith free-kick saw him rewarded with his first Wakefield goal, a reward that no doubt more than made up for the heavy knock he took in the process.
Akeel Francis, operating as the lone striker in front of Wakefield’s attacking trio of Mason Rubie, Tiffany and McKenzie-Grey, didn’t see much of the action in the first half but worked hard off the ball, with one of his charging runs eventually found with an incisive pass through the middle in the 42nd minute. He could only send his shot over the bar though, as the ball took a bobble at the key moment.
Francis was replaced at half-time by top-scorer James Eyles, and he made an instant impact to put Wakefield ahead with his fifth goal of the season. It was a well-crafted goal, as Nyarko played a sublime pass with the outside of his boot over to Charlton on the left, who crossed for Eyles – positioned perfectly with the timing of his run – to strike first-time in to the net from close-range.
Wakefield were unable to build on their lead, and were pegged back ten minutes later when, just as with the first goal, they struggled to deal with a long throw-in. The throw was nodded on to the back post for Owen Cooke to shoot, who was incredibly fortunate to see his shot bounce in off Charlton, who could do nothing about it.
A drab, and stop-start second half stayed at 2-2, with the closest either side came to a winner when Tiffany finished well from a tidy, dinked ball over from Nyarko – the offside flag denying Tiffany a debut goal and Wakefield a route through to the next stage of the cup.
So penalties it was – the first time Wakefield AFC have ever experienced a shoot-out – with Worsbrough enjoying the advantage of kicking first. They missed their first two, Leaper saving one of those with the other skied, as Eyles confidently put away Wakefield’s first spot-kick. Rubie was denied by a good save with Wakefield’s second, before both sides put away the third. Nyarko struck the fourth over the bar after Worsbrough had scored, meaning the sides were back level for the fifth turn. With both well-taken, things moved to sudden death, where both sides scored the next three penalties, the best of which was Charlton who fired his in to the top corner despite the pressure of having to score. Luck and fine margins come in to play at this point, and that proved true as Worsbrough’s fourth kick in sudden death somehow wriggled in to goal off of Leaper’s leg, before Holmes’ somehow stayed out as it hit the underside of the bar but didn’t bounce down in to goal.
The result saw Wakefield out of the League Cup and making the long trip to Barnton in Chesire on Saturday looking to avoid their fourth defeat on the spin and another cup exit. Barnton, in the same tier of the National League Pyramid as Wakefield, ply their trade in the North West Counties Division One South, where they sit 10th of 18 teams after 12 games.
Wakefield manager Junior Roberti again went with a back three, but was blessed with the returns of captain Jack Durkin, midfielder Morgan James and attacker Kiyani Morris as he made six changes to his starting line-up from midweek – one of those a debut for Blake Hodgson in the Wakefield goal.
Wakefield made a much needed perfect start, as after just two minutes Abdul Asamoah – one of two Wakefield midfielders in a 3-4-3 formation – did well to get his foot to a ball on the edge of his box to release Rubie in to midfield. Rubie played Eyles in down the right who struck a low-flighted cross to the back post. It looked to be heading straight for the Barnton keeper’s grasp, only for him to spill in to the path of Francis, who nudged the ball in to the back of the net as he went down under pressure from a desperate defender.
In what played out to be an even, and hotly contested, game of football, Barnton levelled things 10 minutes later when a good bit of possession in midfield saw their player execute a pin-point ball over to a runner on the left. He crossed from the goal line back to find Amir Hajri, who capped-off his well-timed run with an easy finish from two yards out.
Despite the setback, Wakefield were noticeably better in the game than they had been recently, albeit still struggled to craft gilt-edged opportunities. After Eyles and Rubie both had half-chances go amiss, the latter did eventually put Wakefield back ahead just before half-time. Wakefield’s man for all seasons, who is rapidly closing in on 150 games for the club and now looks the most likely to become the first to 50 goals, showed good game intelligence to drift in to the centre of the penalty area from his right wing-back position as Wakefield took a throw-in from the left. Francis expertly held the ball up before back-heeling it in to the path of Charlton’s overlapping run. He found Rubie with an inch-perfect cut-back, who controlled well before curling a magnificent strike beyond the reach of the goalkeeper to the far post for his third goal of the season and 33rd overall.
Wakefield just shaded a second half of few real chances and always looked the more likely of the two sides to find the net again. Eyles was denied his sixth goal from eight games, after he was deemed to be offside when he knocked in the rebound from a wondrous Asamoah strike from 30 yards that rattled the crossbar.
The away side, with Charlton and Rubie providing width outside of a narrower two of Francis and Morris, who themselves were operating behind Eyles, looked more comfortable and balanced on, and off, the ball than in recent times. They also offered more threat higher up the pitch with a fluid shape that often saw Francis join Eyles to form a front two, with Morris moving in to the no. 10 position behind them.
The third goal didn’t come for Wakey though, who did go close five minutes from time after a good exchange between substitute Jaydan Sandhu and Francis saw the letter play a skilful pass to Eyles on the edge of the box. He quickly pivoted his body, and shot with his left foot whilst on the turn, but saw his effort saved.
Nonetheless, Wakefield were comfortable with the one goal lead, thanks in large part to the commanding performance of Durkin, Haigh and Allsop at the back; the game finishing 2-1 to ensure Wakefield ended the week on a high. The result sees Wakefield in to the first-round proper of The FA Vase, just reward for the team and large contingent of supporters who made the lengthy round trip on the day.
Wakefield now have a few days of rest, before attention returns to moving back up the league table with another away game, this time at 11th placed Selby Town on Saturday 28th September; kick-off 15:00PM.
Barnton Match Stats
Half Time: 1-2
Full Time: 1-2
Attendance: 177
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Blake Hodgson – Jack Durkin (C), Kieran Haigh, Jamie Allsop – Mason Rubie, Morgan James, Abdul Asamoah, Callum Charlton – Akeel Francis, James Eyles, Kiyani Morris
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
59m, Jodi Tiffany for Morgan James
68m, Jaydan Sandhu for Kiyani Morris
88m, Kenan McKenzie-Grey for James Eyles
Possession:
Barnton 44% – 56% Wakefield AFC
Passes Completed:
Barnton 214 – 198 Wakefield AFC
Goals:
2m, Akeel Francis
11m, Amir Hajri
42m, Mason Rubie
Wakefield AFC Assists:
42m, Callum Charlton
Wakefield AFC Cards:
Akeel Francis (Yellow)
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 5
Second Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shot off Target: 5
Barnton
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 1
Second Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 1
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic Match Stats
Half Time: 1-1
Full Time: 2-2 (Worsbrough Bridge Athletic win 7-6 on penalties)
Attendance: 73
Wakefield AFC Starting XI:
Matthew Leaper – Stephen Smith, Ben Holmes, Kieran Haigh, Jamie Allsop, Callum Charlton – Nana Nyarko – Mason Rubie, Jodi Tiffany, Kenan McKenzie-Grey – Akeel Francis
Wakefield AFC Subs Used:
46m, James Eyles for Akeel Francis
Possession:
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 27% – 73% Wakefield AFC
Passes Completed:
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic 73 – 200 Wakefield AFC
Goals:
21m, Joshua Brown
33m, Kenan McKenzie-Grey
48m, James Eyles
57m, Owen Cooke
Wakefield AFC Assists:
48m, Callum Charlton
Attempts
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 4
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shot off Target: 1
Worsbrough Bridge Athletic
First Half
Shots on Target: 4
Shots off Target: 3
Second Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 5