Hednesford Town 0 Wolves U21s 1 (Esen pen 45+1)
Josh Esen’s penalty on the stroke of half-time was the difference as Wolves under-21s won in pre-season at non-league Hednesford Town.
In front of a crowd of 1,721 at Keys Park, Esen struck from 12 yards with the final kick of the opening 45, with James Collins’ side surviving three efforts off the woodwork to claim victory.
The youngsters, fresh from a seven-day training camp in Bratislava, started on the front foot and almost took an early lead when Esen’s free-kick was met by the head of Leo Lopes, before the attacker was sensationally denied by the Trialist goalkeeper.
Shortly after, Fletcher Holman was played in behind down the right-hand side and, despite the tight angle, was able to get a shot off towards the near post that was well-saved by the goalkeeper.
At the other end, the Pitmen created two chances within the space of a minute. First, Zidan Sutherland fired over from the edge before Joel Taylor struck a sweetly hit dipping volley that cannoned back off the crossbar.
The visitors were then provided with the opportunity to open the scoring from the spot after Lopes was bundled over inside the box. Esen stepped up and duly converted from 12 yards with the last kick of the half.
Josh Esen with no mistake from the spot 🎯 pic.twitter.com/s59cEqlYVY
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) July 23, 2024
Half-time | Hednesford Town 0-1 Wolves U21s
Collins made a double change at the break, with Alfie White and Dani Angel replacing Wes Okoduwa and Fletcher Holman as minutes in the legs continued to be managed.
The hosts nearly equalised when Dan Trickett-Smith robbed the ball high up off Caden Voice and closed in on goal, but Arthur Nasta stood firm to make the save.
Substitute Angel then somehow missed a glorious opening to double the Old Gold’s advantage when Lopes crossed low and the striker was unable to organise his feet, as the shot on the goal line went into the gloves of the goalkeeper.
Lopes then tried an acrobatic effort after Voice had teed him up with a neat header, before a triple change saw Tom Edozie, Testimony Igbinoghene and Fil Mabete all brought into the action.
And Mabete was straight into the thick of it, making a goal line clearance following pinball inside the box before Omar Holness curled a superb attempt off the crossbar.
It wasn’t to be Hednesford’s night, as they hit the woodwork for the third time with 13 minutes remaining. This time, Rob Stevenson cut inside from the left and hit an effort which came back off the post, as Wolves showed grit to hold on for the victory.
Full-time | Hednesford Town 0-1 Wolves U21s
🆚 @Hednesford_Town 📸 pic.twitter.com/vKQzF0816T
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) July 24, 2024
TEAMS
Hednesford Town | Trialist, Rowe, Taylor, Holness, Trialist, Johnson, Gwilt, Spence, Stevenson, Jervis, Sutherland.
Subs | Barnes-Homer, Trickett-Smith, Alamu-Tajudeen, Brown.
Wolves U21s | Nasta, Okoduwa (White 46), Voice (Igbinoghene 56), Ashworth, Pond, Ojinnaka (Mabete 56), Esen, Whittingham, Holman (Angel 46), Lopes, Ji (Edozie 56).
Subs not used | Hardy
