Match Report 17/10/2010- v Scholes Utd (Away)

Sorry its late! Just got internet at home sorted :s

Wyke’s third game of the season was against unbeaten opponents, with Scholes Utd having won their only game of the season. In fact, Scholes (formerly Hepworth B) had only lost one game since going 11-a-side, although they had been playing in the 3rd and 4th Divisions. Wyke’s team morale had been boosted by a massive 12-6 win against Lightcliffe last week. Hepworth B had knocked Wyke Wanderers out of the cup at Under 11’s, so the Wanderers were out for revenge.

Wyke ran out 7-3 Winners in the end.

It was a brilliant start from Wyke as they took an early lead after only two minutes. Scott Morris took the ball down the left and fed a ball through to Mikey Brooksbank. Mikey outmuscled the last defender and then cooly chipped the keeper.

Wyke continued to attack, and were unlucky not to double their lead, when Connor Rhodes made a fantastic run down the left wing, Scott Morris was on the end of the cross but could only put it into the keeper’s hands.

6 minutes gone, Nathan then fed a great ball to Connor Rhodes, who was away and clear, he fired the ball which squeezed under the keeper and into the back of the net. Wyke now had a 2-0 lead.

Scholes had a couple of half chances within the first 10, but nothing to threaten the Wyke defence which looked much stronger with the return of Tai Pedder. The Wyke defence remained deep, and put in some key challenges to get the ball back. The defence also did well to play the ball forwards to the attacking players.

Mikey Brooksbank’s corners proved to be very hard to handle for Scholes, his first on 9 minutes saw the ball seem to curl into goal and then back out again, however it was his next a minute later which gave Wyke another goal. The corner was met by Nathan Khan who volleyed it in style past the keeper. An absolute fantastic goal. Nathan certainly showed how much of a quality player he was with that effort. Wyke 3-0.

Scholes now seemed to crumble under the might of the Wyke attack, and they extended their lead further with only 12 minutes gone. Connor Rhodes popped a ball through to Mikey who beat the last defender, took it wide and slotted it past the keeper. It was Mikey’s second and Wyke’s 4th now.

Wyke’s lead nearly extended further, but both Mikey and Connor had shots put wide.

The last 10 minutes of the half saw a shaky performance from the wanderers. Wyke found themselves on the back foot a little bit. Damien and Nathan were having a fine game in the centre of midfield, a great partnership emerging from them, but they found themselves greatly outnumbered in the middle and Scholes started to produce some attacking play.

The back four held strong, Louis had been very strong at left back, and Jake and Tai seemed to be playing well together, but there were a couple of slip-ups. Joe McLoughlin had to make a couple of good saves, and also was quick off his line and came out bravely on two occasions to maintain the clean sheet. Scholes were unlucky not to pull a couple of goals back, firstly hitting the outside of the post and then their centre forward headed the ball wide from close range.

However, despite Scholes’ attacking chances, Wyke were the ones to get the next goal. Connor Rhodes fired in a shot from 30 yards which hit the crossbar, Scott Morris was in on the rebound but hit the post, but Nathan Khan was there to fire it home, another goal for him and Wyke had a 5 goal lead going into half time.

Half Time- Wyke 5-0 Scholes

It was a bit of a bad start to the second half for the Wanderers. A mix up and a slip up from Joe McLoughlin gave Scholes a goal back within the first minute of second half.

Scholes continued to attack, and managed to get another goal back. With the momentum they had, Scholes showed signs of making a comeback.
Scholes continued to attack, but Tai and Jake held strong once again. Wyke’s midfield were getting stretched as the gap grew bigger between the defence and attack. Joe McLoughlin made a couple of good saves to stop any more goals going in, he pulled off a great save turning the ball around the post.

Ten minutes into the second half, and Wyke had managed to steady the ship, and now more chances were being created. Mikey Brooksbank hit the ball hard and low towards goal, and it was handled by a Scholes defender giving Wyke a chance to restore their lead with a penalty. Mikey stepped up and blasted the ball into the net. The keeper got a hand to it, but with such power there was no chance he would have saved it.

With 19 minutes to go, Wyke scored their 7th goal of the game. Connor Rhodes flicked the ball onto Mikey Brooksbank who again maintained his composure and flicked the ball over the keepers head and into the back of the net. It was Mikey’s 4th goal of the afternoon, he had put in a great effort today.

The game still remained a battle during the second half, the midfield worked tirelessly throughout, in particular Damien, Scott and Nathan. Jack Lamch created some good play on the right, and Ben Crowe also did well on the right wing after putting in a strong first half performance at right back.

The defence continued to battle, and Abel came on in the second half and put in a definite personal best performance. He won every tackle and header and nothing came down the right during the half.

Mikey nearly got a fifth goal, with acres of space and all the time in the world he fired it into the far corner, but was denied by the post.

Jake Gilderdale put in some great tackles towards the end of the game, and Joe Mac was called in to make another great save. Unfortunately Scholes managed to find the back of the net again, when their striker was given too much time in the Wyke box to turn and shoot.

Scholes battled hard for the last five minutes, but the Wyke back four remained strong and the whistle went giving Wyke a brilliant 7-3 victory.

Man of the Match: Michael Brooksbank. Mikey was awesome today. He’s a very talented player and today he got on with his football and didn’t allow his emotions to get the better of him. His finishing was outstanding and his team play with Connor and Nathan was outstanding.

Goals: Mikey Brooksbank x4, Nathan Khan x2, Connor Rhodes.


What Dave has to say!

Fantastic today! Delighted with the result, but mainly with the team performance! We worked well together as a team, and I’m really pleased to see the defence much more settled and stronger. We played a good team today and made them look pretty poor, which is a tricky thing to do! Lets keep this momentum up! Also good attitudes from you all today, we were supportive of each other and there was a much better team ethic going on…so well done!