Nottingham Forest 1 (Brandy 23) Wolves 4 (Ballard-Matthews 4, McLeod 11, Mane 53, Bradbury 73)
Wolves under-18s made it four wins from five in the U18 Premier League with a dominant display away at Nottingham Forest.
Emilio Ballard-Matthews, Conor McLeod, Mateus Mane and captain Makenzie Bradbury all got on the scoresheet for Richard Walker’s side, with Taeneal Brandy netting the solitary goal for the hosts.
Wolves started in a relentless fashion, looking to immediately get an early lead and were almost rewarded just seconds in when Minkyu Ji smashed an effort off the crossbar from the edge of the area after Mane picked him out with a cross from the right wing.
The Old Gold would have the early goal they were looking for just minutes later, however, when Ballard-Matthews twisted a pair of Forest defenders inside-out before finding the bottom left corner with his effort.
Wolves continued to push for goals and just seven minutes later they had a second with Bradbury winning the ball high and sliding in Mane who unselfishly squared the ball to McLeod for a tap in.
Fast out of the blocks ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/JQ8CSjPi17
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 19, 2024
The hosts were determined to not let the game get away from them early on and they managed to halve the deficit when a low cross from Alfie Bradshaw on the right side was tapped in by Brandy.
The goal did little to stop the waves of pressure from Wolves and Ballard-Matthews was unlucky not to get his second of the game when Mane picked him out in the box, only for his shot to be blocked on the line by Forest defender Ethan Broomes.
Half-time | Nottingham Forest 1-2 Wolves
Wolves took inspiration from their fast start in the first half and repeated the trick in the second, with Bradbury pressing high and winning the ball on the left wing before picking out Mane who emphatically placed his effort into the top left corner to get the goal his performance deserved.
Minutes later Bradbury won it back once again, this time going on a mazy dribble through the Forest defence and rounding the goalkeeper, but the angle proved to be just too tight for him to convert and cap off a brilliant run.
Ji was the next Wolves player to test the Forest keeper, picking up the ball on the left wing and driving inside before looking to curl one into the bottom right corner which the keeper just managed to turn round the post.
The fourth of the game for Wolves came from Bradbury who dispossessed the Forest right-back and drove into the box from the left wing and squeezed an effort past the keeper at his near post.
A top-class away performance was almost capped off in superb fashion when Mane attempted to pick out the top left corner from a free-kick roughly 25 yards out, however he was denied by a brilliant save as the Forest keeper tipped it over the bar.
Full-time | Nottingham Forest 1-4 Wolves
Four wins from five in the #U18PL 📈 pic.twitter.com/QuSmo7NDX1
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 19, 2024
COMING UP
Wolves under-18s will host Stoke City in the U18 Premier League on Saturday 26th October.
NEXT THREE
26/10 Stoke City (H)
2/11 Sunderland (A)
9/11 Leeds United (H)
TEAMS
Nottingham Forest | Willows, Broomes (Clarke 46), Whiteley, Robinson, Modupe, Boulter, Daly, Davies (Sanneh 88), Brandy (Hamilton 67), Bradshaw, Smith.
Unused subs | J.Willows, Bailey.
Wolves | Gracey, Dayman, Osifo, Ruddock (Bowen 76), Olagunju, Bradbury, Ballard-Matthews (Wilcox 88), Rawlings (Gidaree 76), Mane, McLeod (O’Donnell 65), Ji.
Unused subs | Grieves.
Report by Harrison Kewley
