After last weekend’s fantastic win over Frecheville Davys at home, Wakefield AFC travel south to Oughtibridge on Saturday for our sixth match of the season. Last weekend we were superb in the first half, with goals from Rayjon Moore, Jack Enkh, Thomas Eclapier and Jamie Hardwick. The second half was a litany of missed chances though and against the better teams in the league we really need to be taking every chance we get.
Whether Oughtibridge are one of those better sides is yet to be seen. They lost 1-0 away to Dodworth at the start of the season and have lost their last two games. Those defeats were both at home, 4-1 to Ecclesfield and then 2-1 to Wombwell. Their only points to date came via a 3-2 away win over Frecheville and a 1-1 draw away to High Green Villa. So, they’ve lost their two home games so far but not against any opposition we have faced. Their only win was narrow over a team we beat heavily. The stats would say put your money on an away win but this is football. Remember, Wakefield don’t do boring 0-0 so expect goals. Oughtibridge sit 14th in the league and finished 12th overall last season, just one place above relegation.
Wakefield are currently seventh in the league, five points behind top of the table North Gawber Colliery but with a game in hand. We were due to play Oughtibridge on the bank holiday weekend at the end of August but the match was cancelled. That was a home match though so that fixture is still one to be re-arranged.
In terms of the team news, the switch to a 4-3-3 formation last weekend worked wonders and it will be interesting to see if manager Christ Turner sticks with the formation. The blow to the side is the absence of captain Manny Katundu in midfield who is away this weekend as is striker Rayjon Moore who has two goals so far. Fellow striker Mike Owusu may return to the bench but fans will be sad to see that Deji Alabi is still not ready for first team action. Winger Phillip Ebuehi is still on the injury list and another wide player, Lennard Okalo, may be back for the match. Quinaceo Hunt is back from international duty with Bermuda and will compete with Ryan Eades for the keeper’s spot. With the Reserves match cancelled on the same day, Turner has a full compliment of players to choose from (barring injury or absence).
So my prediction for the starting XI? I would think Hunt will return between the posts and the back four of Jean Merour, Yemi Ayodele, Marvin Emmanuel and Jack Enkh will remain the same. The big question is what the manager does regarding Katundu’s absence. He could just play Kyron Richards and Jamie Hardwick in midfield with two wingers and two forwards but the three-man midfield worked so well last week I’d like to see it again. That would more than likely see a debut for someone if it happens as players like Redon Gashi and Noah Hamelberg play more often in attacking midfield or behind the striker. With Moore away I’d expect to see Nathan Weekes up from and Eclapier may be joined by Hamelberg in the wide roles.
MATCH PREVIEW: Oughtibridge WMSC vs Wakefield AFC
