Middlesbrough 50+ Tournament - 24th September 2017

“A difficult day for both teams but we have plenty of opportunities to try and improve through the coming weeks.” Mike Thompson, Manager

MATCH REPORTS

Wakefield A team (Orange) report by Mark Fielden.

Squad: Mark Fielden (Captain) John Perrins, Perry Morton, Jim Pedley, Will Hastings, Jeff Matthews.

In game 1 we were drawn against our local rivals Rothwell Old Boars and we started slowly but played ourselves into the game. We took the lead through Will Hastings but poor game management allowed them to come back into the game and score 2 decent goals. We continued to create chances we failed to add to our score.

In game 2 against Grangetown we had a lots of possession but a lack of experience in tournament playing caught us out. We again had several opportunities to score and didn't take them and Grangetown grew into the game and took their opportunity to grab a 1-0 victory.

Our final game against Richmond was always going to be difficult, mainly because it was really Peterlee playing under a different name...We lost comprehensively 5-0 and quite frankly were beaten by a better team. John Perrins in goal kept the score respectable as the loss could have been far greater.

Mark commented - "We need to play with our heads up and we need to continue the 3 touch rule, as this will encourage quicker thought processes, movement off the ball and awareness of who is close by in support."

A difficult day for the team but we have plenty of opportunities to try and improve through the coming weeks. Thanks to Mark for captaining the team at short notice.

Wakefield B Team (Blue) report by Laurence Watkins

Squad: Mike Thompson (Captain) Mick Wilde, Stephen Stoker, Mike Roberts, Laurence Watkins, Matt Pennington

A tough day’s football was in prospect for Wakefield Wanderers B team (Blues) which comprised essentially of an over 60’s team playing in this over 50’s tournament.

The Blue team equipped itself well on the day but were defeated by the two eventual finalists losing only 1-0 to the eventual winners of the trophy and received many plaudits on the day for the commitment and skill levels displayed.

Game 1 Tees Valley (TVWF)
Result: Wakefield Wanderers B 2 - TVWF 3

A closely fought game with Wanderers going down to an early goal and chasing the game from then on. Wanderers drew back to 1-1 with a well worked goal from Matt Pennington but fell behind to a further two goals before the end of the first period.

Wanderers pulled back a goal from Mike Roberts in the second period but were unable to pull back the final goal despite putting the TV team under real pressure.

Game 2 Seaton Carew
Result: Wakefield Wanderers 1 - Seaton Carew 2

Another game that Wanderers dominated against one of the eventual finalists and quickly moved in to a 1-0 lead with a blistering drive from Mick Wilde from just inside Seaton’s half .Seaton clawed their way back in the game eventually running out winners by 2-1, but the game could have gone either way.

Game 3 Redcar
Result: Wakefield Wanderers 0 - Redcar 1

Wanderers matched Redcar, the eventual tournament winners, blow for blow and were unlucky to run out 0-1 losers. In a controversial finale to the game Wanderers “equalised” through some really strong work by Mike Roberts only for the referee to disallow the goal for a strong challenge dubiously viewed as a foul.

Laurence commented - "The Blues performed above expectations and should be proud with the performances in what turned out to be the strongest group in the competition"

Updated 18:55 - 1 Sep 2019 by David Holbrow