U21 Report: Wolves 2-1 Saints

The hosts led at the break through Tanda Chirewa’s powerful strike and doubled their lead early in the second half from an Owen Hesketh penalty.

Princewill Ehibhatiomhan pulled one back just after the hour mark as Saints searched for a late comeback that never materialised.

For his first league game in charge, Head Coach Adam Asghar handed Under-21s and PL2 debuts to goalkeeper Josh Jeffries and midfielder Barnaby Williams at Aggborough Stadium.

Barnaby Williams made his PL2 debut. (Photos: Stuart Martin)

With the two sides separated by just a point in the table ahead of kick-off, it was no surprise that the game was fiercely contested from the start.

Wolves had the first shot of the night in the opening minutes as Ty Barnett tried his luck from the edge of the area, with Jeffries alert to parry the ball away well.

Saints hit back as Williams won possession in midfield to set up Tyler Dibling for a trademark dribble, but the move ended in Will Merry firing over the bar after his first shot was saved.

Jeffries was called into action again with an excellent diving stop to deny Enso Gonzalez’s header as the hosts enjoyed a spell of pressure with an onslaught of crosses.

The deadlock was broken just after the half hour as Wolves made their pressure pay with Chirewa’s powerful, left-footed effort that was drilled in at the near post.

Saints battled but fell behind in the first half.

One could have quickly been two for Wolves as they kicked on after taking the lead; Owen Farmer was played in one-on-one but dragged his chance wide before Chirewa did the same less than a minute later.

Saints found clear openings hard to come by but had a penalty appeal waved away when Sam Amo-Ameyaw’s curling effort appeared to deflect out for a corner off Justin Hubner’s hand.

Asghar was forced into a change in goal at half time as Jeffries was unable to continue with a knock from a first half save, so Josh McNamara entered the fray for his Saints debut.

Unfortunately, McNamara’s first action was to pick the ball out of his net as Wolves doubled their lead from the penalty spot.

Farmer was sandwiched in between a challenge from Dibling and Sonnie Davis, and Hesketh converted the resulting spot-kick just three minutes into the second half.

McNamara did make a strong save to prevent a third goal, making amends for his own loose pass to keep out Farmer from close range.

Having survived the Wolves pressure, Saints managed to pull a goal back with 25 minutes to play.

Williams won the ball back and found Ehibhatiomhan, who showed composure to finish into the bottom corner through a crowd of bodies.

Princewill Ehibhatiomhan pulled a goal back.

Saints were being kept at arm's length by their hosts as the game entered the closing stages, but Asghar’s side pushed on into six minutes of stoppage time.

Amo-Ameyaw tried his luck from the edge of the area but saw his effort deflected away for a corner.

A vital sliding challenge from Zach Awe prevented Bruno Jordao from sealing the result, but Wolves held firm at the other end to see out their victory.

Wolves: Young, Birtwistle, Keto-Diyawa, Whittingham (Rees 80), Kandola, Hubner (c), Gonzalez (Kaleta 86), Hesketh, Farmer (Chiwome 66), Barnett (Jordao 46), Chirewa.

Subs not used: Storer.

Goals: Chiwera 32, Hesketh 48.

Saints: Jeffries (McNamara 46), Davis (Abu 73), Armitage, Awe, Meghoma, Bragg (c), Amo-Ameyaw, Williams (Edwards 78), Ehibhatiomhan, Dibling, Merry (Vokins 55).

Subs not used: Lett.

Goals: Ehibhatiomhan 65.

Yellow Cards: Amo-Ameyaw 23.