4th Team Vs Wolverhampton & Tettenhall 4

Old Wulf’s (OW) 4th’s had arrived at their penultimate game of the season, their final home game, a local derby versus Wolverhampton & Tettenhall (W&T) 4ths.

With 5 minutes to go, 4ths only had 9 players present at pitch side, thankfully in the nick of time the remaining 3 players arrived. Among them was young Rithick who was making his debut for OW 4th’s. Following the briefest of intro’s, the game got underway and OW immediately took control dominating the early play with W&T struggling to venture forward.  In those opening minutes OW tested W&T’s keeper on several occasions all without reward. W&T 16’s were failing to find their players or when found the attack petered out either by losing possession or the resultant pass ending in a side-line ball. It was from such an error by W&T that the first goal of the game arrived. OW’s took the free hit but quickly lost possession, W&T were presented with a 2 on 2 situation and quickly strode forward, the ball was squared for W&T first shot on goal.  A combination of OW’s defender being slow to close down the opponent, a miss hit shot, and the same defender’s thigh, left OW’s keeper flat footed and the ball finishing in the bottom corner of the net.  8 minutes in, majority of the pressure and play, and 1-0 down.  Undeterred on the restart OW’s immediately went on the attack again asking questions of both W&T’s defence and keeper.  Despite W&T starting to have a little more of the ball, OW’s were still having the better of the play and creating chances.  At 20 mins, OW’s got their chance, when for the second week running, they were awarded a P Flick, however unlike last week, this time OW’s made no mistake, with Neil Ward coolly placing the ball past W&T’s Keeper, Scores level 1-1. OW’s young wingers Ahmed & Harry, were making ground down both flanks time and time again ably supported by Tom who was running the channels well. Again W&T’s keeper was being tested with increasing frequency, and then with around 5 to go to the half, OW’s finally got their reward when Ahmed got a good shot off which ended in the roof of the net, much to the annoyance of the keeper who had hardly put a foot wrong throughout the first half.  2-1 OW’s.  And so, the first half ended with OW being 2-1 in front and good value for their lead.

HT 2-1

Following a positive half time talk, and first aid administered to Harrys hand, W&T got the game underway. It wasn’t long however before OW’s again were looking dangerous, and within the first 10 mins of the half OW’s got their 3rd, with Harry beating the keeper from the top of the D. 3-1 OW’s. Full credit to W&T from the restart they began to see more of the ball and were determined to get back into the game, their younger side on balance were moving the ball with more precision and starting to loose their OW’s markers.  That’s not to say OW’s were pinned back, far from it, and throughout the game chances for OW’s came and went thanks to W&T keeper. The goal appeared to have a charmed life, with the ball having an aversion to the goal at one stage.and just wouldn’t go into the back of the net. Gaps however were starting to appear between OW’s midfield and defence and in the later part of the second half OW’s had to defend several penalty & long corners in succession. OW’s defence did however stand firm with Ed defending a goal bound shot at the post, Paul running one, charging the shot down on more than one occasion, aptly supported by Harj running 2, who mopped up any loose balls, as well as preventing any shots following a slip pass, Rowley in goal, and last but not least Neil defending the other post while keeping close tabs on the injector. An excellent all round performance and so it finished 3-1 to OW’s.

Full Time 3-1 win

MOM went to Ahmed, Runner up Harry. Others receiving votes were: Vish, Nic & Tom.

Summary: A good team performance, yes we made the odd mistake, but everyone showed ‘desire’, a desire that has been all too often missing this season. 

Special mentions this week to: Nic who with controlled what was an end-to-end game, Tom who read the game very well made countless runs into the channels, carried the ball well in possession with excellent link up play. Harry, Ahmed, and Vish who all displayed excellent stick work, and Rithick who making his debut, also played his part in today’s victory.  Overall, this was a good team performance, where determination and belief were present in the way the team went about its business. Well done to all.