Saturday 23rd November 2019 | Austin Ainsworth
Wakefield AFC returned to Sheffield and Hallamshire County Senior League action as they welcomed Stocksbridge Park Steels Reserves to the Dorothy Hyman Stadium. Wakefield, looking to put a fresh run of wins together after a rousing comeback over Burngreave in their last game, went in to the game without a number of key first team players available.
On paper Wakefield, who started the game third in the league, looked a good bet for the win over Stocksbridge, who were in 12th position with only one away point to their name. Football isn’t played on paper though, and out on the 4G pitch Wakefield were second best throughout. Two goals in the first half set the tone for Stocksbridge, who then capitalised on a second half red card for Wakefield defender Marvin Emmanuel by adding a third to claim a deserved 3-0 win.
Wakefield manager Chris Turner named a somewhat experimental line-up due to absentees, with Bright Idadum making his first-team debut in the centre of defence alongside Marvin Emmanuel, and Cedric Kouakou making his first start in the centre of midfield. Yemi Ayodele, who has formed a regular partnership with Emmanuel in defence, was moved forward in to defensive-midfield to compensate for the missing Jamie Hardwick, Kyron Richards and Alex Fowler. Quinaceo Hunt, fresh from another stint with the Bermudan national team continued in goal, as did Chris Sholu and Michael Ash in the fullback positions. Manny Katundu captained the side in midfield whilst Redon Gashi, Deji Alabi and Rayjon Moore continued in the forward positions of Wakefield’s 4-3-3 formation.
The game started off in the worst possible way for Wakefield who went a goal down inside three minutes. Stocksbridge, dominant throughout the pitch and first to every ball, went on the attack and pressured the home defence in to an early mistake. Emmanuel failed to properly clear the ball which fell to the opposition player on the edge of the 18 yard box. He finished excellently past Hunt, with a curling shot in to the bottom right corner.
Wakefield, aside from two speculative free-kicks, never really recovered from the early shock. Stocksbridge looked to have an extra man as they completely dominated the game against a home side unable to get tight and unable to sustain possession. Hunt kept them in the game with at least one good save and commanding play to collect the ball from several corner kicks.
Ayodele, in his unfamiliar midfield position, did have Wakefield’s best chance to score in the 25th minute after a rare piece of good build-up play but could only drag his shot wide. That was it for a poor Wakefield, who held on until the 45th minute but not quite the full half.
Stocksbridge, with yet another attack, put a dangerous cross in from the right which found their unmarked striker, who was able to tuck the ball home from the centre of the box with a good finish. It meant Wakefield went in at half time a deserving two goals down.
The usual advice would be don’t write Wakefield off and don’t leave early, as they always have goals and a comeback victory in them. Turner tried to instigate this with a shift to 4-4-2 as attacker Nathan Weekes came on for Idafum at half-time. However, on a day where nothing went right for the home side there was only more misery to follow.
As in the first half, Stocksbridge had the ball in the net almost immediately. A well-hit shot rattled the crossbar and fell to their waiting attacker who couldn’t miss. The linesman came to the rescue though, as he saved Wakefield’s blushes with a raised flag for offside. Katundu did then have a good chance to pull a goal back with a close-range shot, but was denied his eighth goal of the season, and the chance to become the club’s leading goalscorer, by an excellent save from the underworked Stocksbridge keeper.
It was but a glimmer of hope for Wakefield who contributed to their own downfall, not for the first time this season, with poor decision making and indiscipline. An incident off the ball on the hour mark saw defender Emmanuel see red for an alleged kick-out at another player. It appeared the linesman spotted this, as neither the crowd, players or referee seemed to understand what was happening. Nonetheless, it left Wakefield with problems for the rest of the game and in the coming weeks, with a probable three game ban leaving them even more short.
The final half-hour saw Hunt make several good saves to keep the score respectable and a nice moment as brothers Danny and Amos Kabeya made their debuts for Wakefield, replacing Moore and Alabi, who are without a goal in three and six games respectively. Danny, a reserves regular came on in midfield whilst his older brother Amos, a new signing, came on up front.
Neither were able to make an impact as Stocksbridge added their third goal with an excellently taken first-time volley following a long ball in to the box. That left them with a comfortable finish as they claimed their first away win and inflicted Wakefield’s biggest ever home loss.
It wasn’t a day for comments from players or manager, but no doubt Turner will have concerns at the performance. It is Wakefield’s joint worst loss and the first time they have failed to score in any home game. After a run of five wins on the bounce in the not so distant past, this is now three losses in five games and only one win in the last four.
Wakefield, inexperienced and on a new journey in their first ever season, should reflect on the fact that they have played only 15 games. They have won eight of those games and generally had more ups than downs, remaining third in the league on 21 points. Additionally, the week wasn’t all bad after a dramatic penalty shootout away-win for the reserves on Tuesday evening saw them knock out Harworth Colliery in the Abacus Lighting Floodlit Cup. Attention will now turn to the first team’s next game at home to High Green Villa F.C. on Saturday 30/11/2019, kick-off at 14:00.
Half Time:0-2
Full Time: 0-3
Goals
3m, Stocksbridge
45m, Stocksbridge
79m, Stocksbridge
Starting XI:
Quinaceo Hunt, Chris Sholu, Bright Idafum, Marvin Emmanuel, Michael Ash, Yemi Ayodele, Cedric Kouakou, Manny Katundu (Captain), Deji Alabi, Redon Gashi, Rayjon Moore
Subs Used:
Half-time, Nathan Weekes for Bright Idafum
70m, Danny Kabeya for Deji Alabi
70m, Amos Kabeya for Rayjon Moore
Cards:
60m, Marvin Emmanuel (Red)
Stats:
Wakefield AFC
First Half
Shots on Target: 2
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 1
Shots off Target: 1
Stocksbridge Park Steels Reserves
First Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 2
Second Half
Shots on Target: 3
Shots off Target: 1