Wolves 2 (Reynolds 45+5, Chiwome 92) QPR 2 (Bouhiaoui 41, Edmondson 116)
Wolves under-18s were beaten on penalties by Queens Park Rangers at Molineux after a mammoth battle with the West London outfit in the third round of the FA Youth Cup.
With 120 minutes played and the best part of 30 minutes of added time on top of that, a gruelling cup tie under the lights which lasted for two-and-a-half hours was decided by a rollercoaster shootout ride.
The two sides couldn’t be separated after 90, as Fabian Reynolds cancelled out Ramy Bouhiaoui’s opener for the R’s before Leon Chiwome gave the Old Gold the lead in extra-time. However, Richard Walker’s youngsters were pegged back on 116 minutes as defender Tyler Edmondson rifled in from long range to send the tie to penalties where the visitors prevailed following 24 spotkicks.
In what was a cagey opening period of the encounter, the first attempt from either side came in the 12th minute as Rangers’ Bouhiaoui and Emerson Sutton exchanged a give-and-go on the right flank, with the former firing wide of Lewys Benjamin’s left-hand post.
Wolves’ first attack would come on 18 minutes after some good work from Chiwome. However, after the striker managed to shrugg off defensive attention, none of the five men in Old Gold were able to take advantage of a promising situation.
Fraser Harper soon showed his capabilities by playing a neat ball over to Testimony Igbinoghene. After the latter crossed into the box, Fin Ashworth played it back to the number ten who saw his shot comfortably blocked.
Just moments later, Igbinoghene flashed a teasing ball across goal, which Chiwome was inches away from connecting with. However, Rangers cleared to safety before Reynolds could assert further pressure.
Mason Rees’ quick thinking from a free-kick nearly saw Harper latch onto another opening, but again the QPR backline were aware to the danger.
Rangers then threatened from a free-kick of their own, as Edmondson’s ball was inches away from reaching Alfie Tuck. From the following play, Reynolds was inches away from a spectacular curling effort which sailed just over Conor Clarke’s net.
The visitors opened the scoring four minutes before the break. Wolves failed to heed the initial warning, leaving Bouhiaoui to pounce from just yards out after Benjamin’s impressive initial save from the forward.
Walker’s side missed a golden chance to draw level before the break. Yet again, Igbinoghene and Conor McLeod showed effective link-up play down the left side, but Reynolds was unable to find the back of the net from close range.
Clarke would then bail Rangers out, as Chiwome was played through one-on-one before being denied by the keeper.
Wolves’ pressure would eventually tell, as it was third time lucky for Reynolds. The winger received the ball from a clever Rees pass and was able to manipulate his way inside before drilling a low effort into the near post moments before the half-time whistle.
Fabian Reynolds levels at Molineux 📸 pic.twitter.com/vssDiJc2Kb
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) December 13, 2023
Half-time | Wolves 1-1 QPR
Wolves continued where they left off, as Chiwome saw another chance smartly saved by Clarke inside the opening minute of the second 45.
The following 20 minutes saw another cagey period as Wolves introduced Lennon Patterson and Makenzie Bradbury into the fray. However, no clear-cut chances were forged out for either side as the game neared towards the final quarter of proceedings.
A great opportunity for Wolves to turn the scoreline around came on 79 minutes, as Chiwome was sent through, he smartly played it to Harper whose touch fell into Reynolds’ path before a ferocious effort from the winger crashed off the crossbar.
Quick thinking from Bradbury and Reynolds saw another great opportunity fall the way of Chiwome, who rounded Clark but was unable to pick out McLeod. Just seconds later and Benjamin was tested with a strong effort from Jake Coomes, but was equal to the task, superbly tipping the curling strike around the post.
The final minutes continued at an end-to-end pace, with Reynolds again at the forefront of anything good from an Old Gold persuasion, as a deflected effort went just wide.
Moments later and Wolves had Patterson to thank. It seemed that Coomes would race through and slot home, but the substitute was on hand with an inch-perfect and timely recovery tackle. The hosts would be thanking their lucky stars again from the resulting corner, as it fell to substitute Tyler Young from close range but somehow the midfielders effort fell off target after Rees’ initial goal-line clearance.
In the resulting 11 minutes of stoppage time, the game continued to ebb and flow, with neither side able to find the breakthrough. The only meaningful attempt was a long effort from Bradbury which sailed harmlessly wide.
Full-time | Wolves 1-1 QPR
As the game moved into extra-time, Wolves got off to the perfect start as McLeod’s floated ball was met by Chiwome who beat the onrushing Clark to complete a turnaround for the time being.
CHIWOMEEEEEEEEEEE!! pic.twitter.com/CuPHWMlAP2
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) December 13, 2023
QPR looked to hit back immediately, but Bouhiaoui’s header from a free-kick was comfortable for Benjamin.
Half-time in extra-time | Wolves 2-1 QPR
Straight away in the second period of extra-time, QPR went in search of an equaliser and Emmerson Sutton was close to doing so, as his shot beat Benjamin before rolling along the line and eventually being cleared to safety by the superb Wes Okoduwa.
The visitors then drew level with six minutes to go, as Edmondson’s sensational effort flew past Benjamin from 20 yards out, swinging the pendulum yet again.
After an enthralling 120-plus minutes of football, the sides could not be separated.
Full-time after extra-time | Wolves 2-2 QPR
Again, the penalty shooutout followed the same pattern, going all the way down to the wire.
After one round of penalties each, which included respective misses from keepers Benjamin and Clark, the scores were all square at eight apiece.
Young would make amends following his initial miss from 12 yards, making it 9-8 to Rangers. Unfortunately for Chiwome, he was the unlucky party as the striker’s penalty sailed over the bar as Wolves exited the FA Youth Cup at the first hurdle.
Full-time after extra-time and penalties | Wolves 2-2 QPR (QPR win 9-8 on penalties)
Wolves | Benjamin, Okoduwa, Carson, Rees, Voice, Igbinoghene (Patterson 63), Reynolds (Angel 87), Ashworth (Bradbury 66), Chiwome, Harper, McLeod (White 122).
Subs not used | Amos, Rawlings, Edozie.
QPR | Clarke, Redknapp (Putman 82), Leahy, Tuck, Edmondson, Manufor, Coomes (Neill 102), Hamid (Young 55), Yahyaoui, Sutton, Bouhiaoui.
Subs not used | Loades, Radojevic, Hayati.
NEXT FIVE
Liverpool (H) 16/12
Darlaston Town (A) 19/12 BCC
Newcastle (A) 06/01
Middlesbrough (A) 27/01
Sunderland (H) 10/02
Report by Benedict Ferraby
