Goals:
11m Dodworth (pen)
23m Dodworth
24m Dodworth
40m Deji Alabi
56m Rayjon Moore
87m Marvin Emmanuel
Starting XI:
Ryan Eades
Jean Merour, Kyron Richards, Marvin Emmanuel, Jack Enkh
Deji Alabi, Manny Katundu (capt), Jamie Hardwick, Lewis Owiredu
Nathan Weekes, Rayjon Moore
Subs Used:
71m Michael Owusu for Jamie Hardwick
73m Noah Hamelburg for Lewis Owiredu
Bookings: Kyron Richards, Jamie Hardwick
If I were to pick one word for Wednesday’s game it would be ‘wow’. If I was a man of few words I’d probably say that Wakefield AFC raised their game after going three goals down to come back and snatch a draw in the dying minutes. Thankfully for me, I’m not a man of few words as our first home league game in our history deserves so much more than that. So much more that it’s difficult to know where to start .
The first home game of the season was on the 4G pitch which means we will have the pleasure of another first when we move to the stadium pitch for our next home game in September. A crowd of around twenty turned up for our first game which is good for so early in our journey and all can say they not only were treated to a great match but had an experience that they will remember for a long time.
Dodworth kicked off their season last weekend with a home win over Oughtibridge who we were due to play this coming Saturday before the match was cancelled. They are a strong and capable side as proven by their finishing position of second in last season’s table.
Wakefield had a solid start and it was actually against the run of play when Dodworth got their first goal. One thing for sure is that our centre-backs are going to have to get used to plenty of aerial balls this season as just like Hepworth last weekend it was a long ball over the defence that the opposition used to attack with. Just after ten minutes into the game the Dodworth striker was played through on goal but was brought down in the box by Eades. The away side scored the resulting penalty to take the lead.
Then came two goals in quick succession that put the match on an early knife edge. At first Emmanuel missed heading a long ball which let their striker through on goal to score to Eades’ left. It was only around a minute later when Dodworth won a corner and scored too easily at the near post. The balance of the match now hung on how the team would respond – would their heads drop and this turn into a rout or would they fight back. In the end it was a case of boys to men as the ‘Wakey’ lads showed a great deal of intestinal fortitude to fight back. The Wakefield faithful, initially quieted by their side going three down, started to get behind their team once more.
The first Wakefield goal came again from the skillful feet of Alabi as he ran onto a cross from the left wing to send the home fans into rapture. Now the players started to believe and the fans spurring them on added extra energy to their game. The sides went into the break at three-one to Dodworth and manager Chris Turner had his work cut out at half time but knew the players had the abillity, belief and physicality to pull the game back.
Straight into the second half, the Wakefield players were like a different team to the one that had the shaky fifteen minute spell in the middle of the first half. The fans too raised their voices on the touchline and it was a fantastic evening to be a part of. Now Wakefield were winning tackles, first to the loose ball and exploiting our players’ pace on the wings. As the Dodworth players tired, their cohesion started to split and team started to squabble among themselves.
Ten minutes into the second half, Weekes took the ball down the left
wing and floated a great cross into the box. Time almost stood still for
the fans as Moore rose into the air, meeting the ball flush with his
forehead to power his header past their keeper. When the ball hit the
net it was players and fans alike who celebrated with the belief that
the team could really do this.
For the rest of the second half the Wakefield gameplay improved with the confidence of the players, now displaying the skills they had shown in pre-season along with the fitness to dominate. The Dodworth players were flagging and you could audibly hear their instructions to each other to slow the game down.
Owusu and Hamelburg replaced Hardwick and Owiredu mid-way through the second half, adding even more pace and still to an already potent attack. The away side weren’t without their chances to seal the game but both the momentum and the luck stayed with Wakefield. The magic moment came just three minutes from full time when Wakefield won a corner on the right side. The centre backs came up to join the height of Owusu and Moore in the box. The corner was floated over all the players to the far post though where there was nobody to meet the ball. Nobody that is except Emmanuel who not only scored the equaliser but did so with a creative back-heel, showing the prowess of a natural striker rather than a defender. The players celebrated wildly. The fans celebrated wildly. The Wakefield side of the viewing fans showed the passion they already had for this young team and if their had been a small roof over them they would surely have raised it. The Dodworth players and fans on the other hand were despondent, letting a three-goal lead slip and they further let themselves down with fouls and squaring up to the Wakefield players, clearly rattled by the comeback.
There wasn’t enough time left to grab all three points but after being three goals down the result felt like three points (that’s a lot of threes!). The match was a real kick-start to the season for everyone – the players, the staff and the fans alike. The team showed fantastic spirit in their comeback and not lying down when the odds were against them. They’re now getting used to playing older, more physical sides who will test the referee and as they play more together their understanding and communication will grow.
The fans played their part too and it was great to see so many learning the players names, getting used to how they play and seeing them stay behind after the game to congratulate them on a great performance.
After the match, I asked Chris Turner for his thoughts on the match and the amazing comeback. He said “I thought it was a really entertaining game. From their point of view I thought they were a strong, powerful team. I thought we started the game well then suddenly bang, bang and bang we’re three down in twenty-five minutes and I really feared the worst. But to be fair to the players, they dug in and the created a couple of chances and then obviously the goal before half time put us back in it and we could have had another before half time. I said to the players that I felt apart from the minutes when we conceded those goals I thought we were as good as they were. I’ve always had a philosophy in football that a two goal lead at half time is a bad scoreline because the next goal is vital, the next goal wins the game. It would be 4-1 for them or if we get the next goal the momentum is back with us and that’s how the game went.”
Chris continued “Then for thirty minutes in the second half we dominated it, we got back to 3-2. They came back at us again and missed a couple of good chances which could have sealed the game and then we get the equaliser with three minutes to go. The emotion of the game and the emotion of the players was there to see and I think in eight weeks we have gelled, we’ve formed a good side and the workrate and football they played was excellent. We played some tough games in pre-season and I think that they have helped us in games like this because they’ve seen it before. The one thing that we lack is experience at this level and that aggression or whatever you want to call it that frightens other teams. Other teams have that which is something we have to combat and I think we will as time goes on, we will get used to it and our football will get better. I’m delighted with the two games we have played so far”.
I asked him if it felt like three points won today rather than one he said “it always does being 3-0 down after twenty-five minutes because you feel that heads will drop. They showed what they have been working on in training, passing the ball quicker and moving it and changing play. I thought both wide players (Alabi & Owiredu) had spells in the game where the opposition couldn’t handle them and they caused trouble. I thought Michael Owusu when he came on showed what he can be like and we need more minutes from him on the field. I thought all the players that played tonight played well in long periods of the game”
When asked if the second half was the best play he had seen from the team so far he replied “Oh yeah, I thought apart from the minutes when they got three goals that we matched them and at times were better than them and showed a lot of character to come back from three down. It was most pleasing on a lot of aspects tonight”
I then caught up with Marvin Emmanuel who scored the vital equalising goal. He told me “To begin with the game was tough, we had to adjust to the way they played. We went 3-0 down and weren’t happy about it but we felt we worked hard in the second half. We came out wanting it more than them and got the goals. As for the goal I was surprised it came to me, I was just watching the flight of the ball and went to the back post and equalised. I was really happy from there.”
With this Saturday’s match with Oughtibridge cancelled it means our next match is Saturday 31st August 2019 away to Penistone Church Reserves with a mid-week game away again on Wednesday 4th September 2019 at Swinton Athletic. Our next home match is then the following Saturday 7th September 2019 when we should be on the stadium pitch to host Frecheville Davys.