This was always going to be a tough game against a team who had only lost once so far this season and who had already beaten and drawn with two of the top five teams in the League.
The pitch wasn’t too heavy after this week’s rain and the Wolves kicked off uphill. The first half was end to end with Burton giving us a lesson in good passing and movement. William, who didn’t miss a tackle today, was immense in defence, and kept Burton to long range efforts which either went high or were saved by Cole. When the Wolves decided to pass we looked dangerous and both Jacob and Dylan had chances blocked.
Midway into the half Cole put Dylan clear with a quick drop kick. As he bore down on goal he was clipped from behind just inside the box and the young Ref gave a penalty despite pressure from the Burton manager and fans. Unfortunately the shot hit the cross bar so we need to keep practising low penalty shots.
Burton kept up the pressure and Nathan, Sam, William and Luke tackled and hustled bravely to keep them at bay. The deadlock was eventually broken when Sam played a super pass to Dylan up the right wing. Dylan played in a quick cross into the danger area which glanced off a Burton player’s back into the far corner: 1-0.
Both teams had chances towards the end of the half; Dylan and Ollie had good shots saved and Nathan had one just go wide. Cole came out quickly to block a good effort from Burton and again saved well on the floor moments later.
Half time: 1-0
The second half was much the same as the first with both teams playing some good football. Burton were passing the ball really well in midfield but couldn’t get past the defensive line of William, Nathan and Luke. The Wolves had a good amount of possession but our passing game wasn’t always as good as it can be, with balls played either too slowly or too hard. Burton were defending in numbers and the Wolves needed to do more than fire shots from distance to get the second.
After 11 minutes Dylan took a nicely weighted corner that found Jacob at the back post. Jacob controlled the ball and tapped it to Sam in front of goal whose low shot gave the keeper no chance: 2-0
Burton didn’t give up and Cole was forced to make a fine save on the floor. Dylan had a couple of shots go wide before the Wolves eventually started passing the ball much, much better in midfield. Nathan started a move from defence passing to Sam just on halfway. Sam picked out Ollie on the left with a good pass and his quick cross found Jacob in the box who finished nicely: 3-0
As the game drew to a close Cole saved well with his feet and Luke made an important tackle, clearing the ball to Nathan. Nathan took the ball into midfield and found Ollie in the box with a fine pass but his shot was well saved.
This was a good match against a decent passing team who will win plenty of games this season. Our defence, especially William and Nathan, were awesome today and probably won us the game. Cole was equally good in goal and was much more vocal and commanding today. When the front players passed the ball quickly we looked a very good side but we are not doing this enough yet to beat the very best teams in the league.
