Wakefield Reserves 2:1 Pontefract Collieries Reserves
Lancashire Football League
Weds 27th October, 2010

Pontefract Collieries Reserves followed their hard-fought win against Tadcaster Albion Reserves with another impressive performance, losing narrowly to a strong Wakefield team.

The improvements shown under John Redford during his last two games in charge were bolstered by the inclusion of several first team regulars, sharpening their fitness for Saturdays “Top of the Table” clash against Staveley. With Carl Fothergill leading the front line, Paul Staniforth and Matt Wilkinson adding much needed experience at the back, and the ever-willing Rian Sykes added to a young midfield, the “older heads” were able to bring a competitive edge to the team, as well as providing crucial leadership and guidance for what is an extremely young Reserve side – founded on Redford’s U19 Academy team.

In particular, Leon Guest, dropped into a deeper midfield role alongside Sykes, seemed to thrive, and providing much of the driving force behind the team, as did James Jenkins alongside the excellent Wilkinson and Staniforth. However, the away side fell behind in the ninth minute when a ball inside Staniforth was poked home by the Wakefield right back, who stabbed the ball past the onrushing ‘keeper, Tom King. Although the goal was extremely well constructed, it came against the run of play, with Pontefract making the early running in the game. In particular Fothergill and his young strike partner Owen James were linking well up front, feeding the two wingers Matt Ward and Stuart Gordon.

Pontefract were rewarded by an equaliser on the half hour mark, when good approach work by Fothergill and Ward led to the ball falling at the feet of Leon Guest, who struck a firm volley into the corner of the Wakefield net.

With the scores level at the interval, Pontefract knew that they had more than held their own against a higher ranked team – Wakefield’s first team currently playing in the Evo Stik League – and were unlucky not to be in front. The game became more stretched in the second half, with full-backs Staniforth and Connor Rollison pushing forward for the Colls, and the game taking on an end-to-end pattern. The intoduction of Warren Redford almost proved crucial, with the youngster providing an excellent cameo alongside Fothergill, and being denied a stonewall penalty when not one, but two, fouls went unpunished as he was denied a clear-cut scoring opportunity in the Wakefield box.

At the other end, Tom King maintained parity with a string of excellent saves – one, in particular, from a downward header by the Wakefield centre forward, showing real agility. However, the home side struck with twenty minutes remaining when a King save ricocheted to the feet of an onrushing striker, who stroked the ball home. Pontefract’s response was impressive, with Matt Ward switched to the left flank and maintaining the quality he had shown in the first half on the right, and Keiron Wright and Jack Hill added to the fray. In particular, Fothergill and Redford combined well, firstly to set up Leon Guest for a shot from 25 yards, and latterly to set up Fothergill for an attempt on goal as a result of a delightful turn and reverse pass from Redford. When Fothergill’s excellent overhead kick was tipped over by the Wakefield ‘keeper, it was obvious that it was going to be “one of those days”.

Despite the result, the performance represented a massive leap in the right direction for the team, with the youngsters benefitting from the influence of senior players, the balance in the team, and several of the youngsters impressing the onlooking First Team management team of Simon Houghton and Darren Smith.