Wolves 2 (Mane 39, Stafford 50) Newcastle 4 (O’Donovan 59, Fitzgerald 78, Marwa OG 85, Wooster 87)
A young Wolves under-18 side fell to defeat against Newcastle United on Saturday, with the visitors coming back from two goals down to claim all three points at Compton Park in the U18 Premier League.
It was a sharp start for the home side as they found themselves with a flurry of half-chances in the opening minutes, with Mateus Mane putting his effort just wide of goal after a brilliant ball over the top from the Wolves backline found the striker.
Hayden Ford made multiple mazy dribbles down the right-hand side in the first half, with the best of the bunch leading to a shot which landed on the roof of the Newcastle net.
In the 39th minute, Wolves reaped the rewards of their early efforts, as Mason Stevens slipped in Mane who slotted the ball past the Magpies goalkeeper to put the hosts ahead.
Wolves pushed for a second soon after, with Mane again making a lovely run from his own half before testing the keeper, who saved his initial effort as well as the rebound.
David Osifo looked to double the lead just before half-time as his header from the resulting corner was on target, but the ball was cleared before it could go over the line.
Half-time | Wolves 1-0 Newcastle
The Old Gold wasted no time in the beginning of the second-half as they quickly found themselves up by two goals after just five minutes played, with Stevens’ shot from outside the box initially saved by the keeper, before Ollie Stafford pounced to put the rebound away and double Wolves’ advantage.
Immediately piling on the pressure after the goal, Newcastle got one back just nine minutes later as Jake Durrant crossed the ball to Kyle Fitzgerald who headed the ball back across goal for Alex O’Donovan who smashed in to halve the deficit.
The game hung in the balance afterwards as both teams created chances, yet neither could convert them.
However, less than 20 minutes after their first goal, Newcastle countered from a Wolves corner with O’Donovan playing a through ball to Mohamed Waddani who squared it to Fitzgerald who put it past George Hardy to equalise.
After scoring two minutes earlier but it being flagged for offside, Newcastle then completed their comeback as Kacey Wooster took it past the Wolves keeper who came out of his net, with his shot taking a deflection off Bjorn Marwa before it found the back of the net.
Things got worse for Wolves just a minute later as Wooster’s shot found the far corner to make it four for the Magpies following another counter-attack from a Wolves corner, with Newcastle wrapping up the game with their third goal in less than 10 minutes.
Full-time | Wolves 2-4 Newcastle
LINEUPS
Wolves | Hardy, Ford, Osifo, Elendu, Saba (Gidaree 79), Marwa, Stevens, Ji, Mane (Bowen 57), Wilcox, Stafford.
Subs not used | Grieves, Aneke, Abbey.
Newcastle | Anderson, Bloomer, Durrant, Johnson, Epia, Cogdon, Fitzgerald, Harper, Wooster (Yeutembip 90+2), O’Donovan, Waddani (Lucas 90+2).
Subs not used | Holland, Ndiweni, Gilligan.
COMING UP
Wolves under-18s travel to face Manchester City next Saturday in the U18 Premier League.
NEXT THREE
08/03 Manchester City (A)
11/03 Everton (H)
15/03 Liverpool (H)
Report by Morgan Turner-Green
