Goals:
29m Hepworth United 1-0
34m Deji Alabi 1-1
40m Nathan Weekes 1-2
67m Hepworth United (pen) 2-2
Starting XI:
Ryan Eades
Jean Merour, Kyron Richards, Adeyemi Ayodele, Jack Enkh
Deji Alabi, Manny Katundu, Jamie Hardwick, Lewis Owiredu
Redon Gashi
Nathan Weekes
Subs Used:
68m Rayjon Moore for Lewis Owiredu
Saturday was a historic day for Wakefield AFC as we played our first league game since forming earlier in the year. After a pre-season of friendlies against opposition usually from higher divisions it was good to get the league campaign under-way. In years to come we can look back at the twelve players above who played against Hepworth United as the first team to play for the club, wherever the journey takes us by then. The fans that made it over to support the lads can also say they were there the day Wakefield AFC played officially for the first time.
The venue was Hepworth, a picturesque location near Holmfirth as you can see from the images. The weather was warm and dry but very windy given the altitude of the pitch in the Pennines. As well as the wind causing problems for the players they also had to cope with a pitch that had quite a severe slope between the goals and also curved towards the corner flags at the bottom of the hill.
The opposition were very similar in style to a lot of teams that Wakefield AFC will face in their first season and the key for the lads will be not to get drawn into the other team’s game-plan. On the Hepworth pitch that was difficult though as the long grass stopped us from playing our passing game with any pace and in the second half even our fastest wingers struggled to catch any ball played with pace down the hill as the bounce accelerated it away from them.
A score draw is a credible result given that it was our first match at this level but having pulled back from a goal behind to lead at the break it was a frustrating result. Given that we also hit the woodwork twice and that Hepworth’s equalising penalty was a questionable decision it’s hard to feel it was a fair result. The bottom line though is that at this level we need to be ready for difficult pitches, physical opposition and officials of varying levels.
Playing uphill in the first half, Wakefield had good chances to open the scoring with the wide players Owiredu and Alabi able to use their pace and trickery against the opposition full backs. Around a quarter of an hour into the game, Hepworth nearly scored an own goal when an attack down our left resulted in a shot saved by their keeper which their centre back then blasted over his own bar in clearance. The best chance at 0-0 came when Alabi cut inside the left back and from the edge of the area fired a left foot shot which cannoned off the top left corner of the goal frame. Six inches wider and lower and that would have been a memorable first goal for the club.
As it was though it was Hepworth’s long-ball game which gave them the lead just before the half-hour mark. The long ball was flicked on with no defensive cover and their striker fired past Eades for the opening goal.
The lead didn’t last long though and it was Alabi who scored Wakefield AFC’s first ever league goal (a pub quiz question in years to come perhaps?). Conceding a goal had fired up the away side and just five minutes later Alabi was able to beat his marker again and cut inside to fire past their keeper. The away fans (all eight of us) went wild with delight and Alabi was congratulated by every member of his team.
Wakefield didn’t stop there though and even before they took the lead there was a powerful cross across the front of the Hepworth goal which Gashi was unable to reach to turn into the net. With five minutes to go in the half it was another pacey counter attack which put us 2-1 ahead. The ball was played through to Weekes to run onto who had a defender and keeper to beat. They converged at the same point outside the box with Weekes just getting to the ball first. It didn’t have a lot of power on it though as the shot was placed towards goal and the away fans had to wait what seemed like an age to see their team take the lead for the first time. Battling against the long, uphill grass though the ball eventually made it in to the delight of the players, fans and staff alike.
Just before half-time, Hepworth had a free kick awarded unfairly for a handball that never was. To the relief of all concerned the shot deflected wide and Wakefield went in ahead at the break. That gave the fans cause for optimism, hoping that playing downhill would be easier in the second half.
Unfortunately, nothing went our way in the second half. Around the hour mark, goalkeeper Eades was lucky to come away from a heavy clash with only a cut leg and needed the attention of physio Dali Mikulas. The home side’s equaliser came half-way through the second half as their forward went down easily under the challenge from one of our defenders. At first it appeared that the referee had awarded a free kick to the right hand side of the box but soon changed it to a penalty. The Hepworth taker despatched a well-placed shot to the top right and the home side were level again.
Wakefield had one more golden chance to win the match before full time. It was around twelve minutes from the end when the Hepworth centre back fouled a Wakefield forward outside the box. He was so angered by the decision that he was booked for booting the ball away in frustration rather than for the tackle itself. Captain Katundu stepped forward to take the shot which curled toward the top left corner. Somehow their number one got a hand to it and pushed it onto the bar. The ball dropped to one of our incoming players and the second shot was also well saved but would not have counted as the offside flag then went up.
So the match finished with mixed emotions for all concerned. The performance, especially in the first half, was one of the best I’ve seen watching the team and despite having all the best chances they came away with only a point. There will be frustration that we didn’t get all three points but also plenty of room for optimism as the performance was worthy of better.
This Wednesday and Saturday we start our home campaign with successive games against Dodworth Miners Welfare Senior First Team and Oughtibridge WMSC First Team. Both matches will be played on the 3G pitch with Wednesday’s game kicking off at 6:30pm and Saturday at 3:00pm. We hope to see plenty of fans there to cheer on the lads in what could be two tough games. Both sides played each other this weekend with Dodworth, who finished second in the league last season, coming away with a narrow 1-0 home win.