NCEL- Game 16
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29/10/24 - Wombwell Town vs Wakefield AFC
If the 'new manager bounce' is real then opponents Wakefield put it to good use as Stephen Bodle took charge of his first league game at the Recreation Ground. The visitors were quick and looked ruthless in the early stages of the game, forcing Charlie Preston to tip the ball around the post as Scott Smith's header almost caught the Wellers out in the first 30 seconds. Despite the early pressure, Wombwell rode their luck well with solid defensive work by the back four. This lead to a breakaway moment on 18 minutes as all-time top scorer Eddie Agnew raced through the middle of the pitch, beating his defender, before being thwarted by Falcons' keeper Owen Evans one-on-one. Just two minutes later Wakefield took the lead through new signing Callum Brooks. Pressure in the penalty area eventually saw a cross from the right that Brooks volleyed past the diving Preston. There were more defensive blocks by Jack Dando and captain Rikki Paylor in the middle period of the half as Wakefield looked to double their lead, with the defence willing to concede corners rather than goals. The Wellers found an equaliser with five minutes to go as Danny Youel's cross from the left saw Josh Nodder's shot blocked away for a corner. Nodder's corner going into the 41st minute was headed in by Agnew for his 15th goal of the season, to make the game level at the break. WTFC 1, WAFC 1. Wakefield started the second half just as they did in the first, only for Akeel Francis to be denied as his shot across the box was touched behind by Preston at the right hand post. In a challenging game for the referee, there was a five minute spell where every touch appeared to be a foul. This left Jordan Kershaw, Dando and Youel all booked within five minutes leaving almost everyone perplexed in the ground. On the bench, no one was more confused than Jason Dodsworth who made his feelings clear. Over came the referee once more and sent Dodsworth to the changing rooms. Just four minutes later the referee had another decision to make as Callum Charlton fouled in the area and a penalty was awarded to the Wellers. Up stepped Owen Sykes who blasted the ball into the roof of the net to give the home side the lead for the first time in the game. With the Wellers pressing Kershaw took the ball across the right hand side of the penalty areaon 77 minutes and just outside as keeper Evans' late tackle brought the forward down. Yellow card to the keeper and a Sykes free-kick that had to be punched onto the crossbar and out for a corner. The pressure kept going and on 79 minutes a third successive corner was this time punched to the edge of the area where Agnew collected the ball and played it to Nodder on the right. As Nodder curled the ball into the top right corner, the referee blew for a foul on Agnew instead. What should have been a third goal for Wombwell was instead a free kick, which was stopped by the keeper who was able to deny Nodder this time. It was a turning point of the game and with three minutes to go another infuriating free kick in Wakefield's favour saw the visitors equalise. Jaydan Sandhu's kick somehow found the back of the net as the ball seemed to go through Preston's hands on the line. Wakefield had built that confidence up, and as it has happened so many times in the past, they found the winner with a minute of normal time remaining. Brooks involved once more as he crossed from the left after winning the ball from Paylor on the edge of the area to find the experienced feet of Jimmy Eyles who beat Preston at the left hand post. A gutting way for the Wellers to finish the game with a combination of referee error and, more importantly, lack of concentration from the home side. Wombwell Town - 2 Eddie Agnew - 41 Owen Sykes - 67 Wakefield - 3 Callum Brooks - 20 Jaydan Sandhu - 87 Jimmy Eyles - 89 Attendance: 289
Images from this season can be found on the Gallery page.
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Match Programme
Player of the Match
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