A bright, sunny day and good conditions for football but could the Wolves break the ‘hoodoo’ and win five games in a row, something that was beyond us last season?
Some changes in positioning today with Ollie playing up front and Dylan dropping into a deeper midfield role saw the Wolves start brightly going uphill and both Dylan and Jacob had chances in the early exchanges. Irchester were quick to break going downhill and passed the ball well in a disciplined midfield. Cole came out well to scoop up one attack but was beaten by a great pass as Irchester moved forward and Dylan did well to clear up field.
Cole was commanding the defence well today and came out to catch a corner and released Jacob out on the right. He found Dylan with a cross but the shot was blocked and Irchester cleared without being under any pressure.
Nathan and Sam were doing well in the centre of midfield and Tom and William were tackling hard in defence. Dylan was enjoying the extra space in midfield and another powerful shot was just tipped over by the keeper. A minute later and Irchester were on the attack; unfortunately William slipped going for a tackle and as he fell his hand hit the ball. The resulting penalty was hit hard and low into the bottom right corner giving Cole no chance: 0-1.
The Wolves upped the pace and pushed forward to get an equaliser. Dylan had a shot go wide and another saved brilliantly before scoring with a belter from outside the box just before half time: 1-1.
In the second half Ollie dropped back into midfield with Jacob going upfront. Tom did some great throw-ins to keep the pressure on Irchester and Ollie, Dylan, Jacob and Sam started passing the ball with more confidence. Jacob had a shot saved and Dylan put another over the bar before Tom had a shot saved from a good Ollie pass. The pressure was all coming from the Wolves but Irchester were still dangerous on the break and won a free kick on the edge of the box. The shot came in hard and low and appeared to be deflected into the side netting (it bounced back into play) but the ref gave a goal and the Wolves were behind again with 5 minutes left to play: 1-2.
The Wolves immediately pushed forward with Nathan joining the attack and he managed a shot from just outside the box which was blocked by the massed defence. The rebound landed kindly for Jacob and he managed to chip the out-rushing keeper for the equaliser: 2-2.
The game now became open as both teams went for the winner. Dylan picked up the ball on halfway and with space in front took his time to position himself and put in a fantastic shot that whacked the bar. As the ball bounced down Jacob pounced and tapped in the winner with barely seconds left on the clock: 3-2.
If there were any neutrals watching they may well have enjoyed this game between two positive sides. I felt the Wolves were unlucky to concede from an unfortunate penalty and a debateable goal from a free kick however Irchester deserved something as they showed us today how a midfield can play.
Having said that, I was so proud that the boys didn’t once let their heads go down and kept battling right to the very end to get a fully deserved win. Well done to all of them.
We do need to work on positioning and quick passing into space and also supporting the player on the ball. All the boys really battled today and although I don’t think we have played as well as we can this season we are improving with each game. Dylan enjoyed the extra space in midfield and Jacob proved he is deadly in and around the box.
