Wolverhampton faced Kings Norton in The McGregor Cup semi final and created the first chance when Alhaji's free kick from just outside the penalty area beat the keeper but hit the underside of the bar and rebounded clear. We could hardly have come closer to gaining the lead but within a few minutes we found ourselves a goal behind as we allowed one of our opponents to run through unchallenged and give Jakson no chance of stopping his well drilled strike.Our lads were visibly shaken with the setback and for a short period Kings Norton were in so much control that we would have gone further behind if it wasn't for some heroics from Jakson in our goal. We were down, but certainly not out, and Corban got a great equaliser after 12 minutes by beating a couple of defenders before smashing the ball into the roof of the net. This sparked both sets of players into action and in a frenetic end to the half both teams created chances before we conceded a penalty with a rash tackle.Fortunately with Jakson looking so imposing in goal the resulting spot kick rebounded off the crossbar and the score remained level but the sense of relief proved to be only temporary and Kings Norton scored again to give themselves a 2-1 lead at the break.
At the start of the second half Corban broke clear and looked certain to bring us level ony to be denied by an amazing last ditch tackle and just when we were getting a real grip on the game one of the opposition forwards went past 3 defenders to pass the ball in off the post and chasing a 3-1 deficit our fate was virtually sealed. We threw caution to the wind, and with our defenders constantly exposed, it was no surprise that we eventually conceded a fourth goal as we stood motionless as a shot came back off the crossbar before ending up in our net.The game remained open until the end but with Charlie and Nihaal left with so many players left to mark at times it was amazing that Kings Norton did not score even more. We were certainly fortunate that Jakson was in top form and he pulled off another very good save diving low to his right, and pushing the ball wide when he appeared well beaten. Wolverhampton ended the game positively and got a goal back when Irorun used his pace to glide past his marker to reduce the deficit. Our opponents barely blinked ,however, and encouraged by the room they were given by our midfielders and defenders, they carved us open to score a fifth. At the very end of the game a good shot from Thai was saved but the keeper couldn’t hold the ball and the impressive Lucas followed up to score from a tight angle. Good luck to Kings Norton in their McGregor Cup final, because they deserved the win, but the Wolverhampton lads have got to improve their passing in order to keep possession, and defend better as a team, if we are to defeat the better teams in this area.
Squad:Jakson Ashley (St. Anthony’s), Charlie Stone (Bhylls Acre), Nihaal Jabbal (Uplands),
Alhaji Bah (St. Stephens), Thai Billings (St. Mary’s), Uthman Mohammed (St. Andrews),
Lucas Smith (Bhylls Acre), Ollie Harris (Wodensfield), Corban Smith (Parkfield),
Irorun Adegbite (Fallings Park), Fabian Dell (Woden Primary), Devaine Swaby (Claregate)
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