A very cold, wet day with a muddy and slippery pitch was unlikely to provide a classic game however the Wolves battled hard with a tremendous defensive effort to scrape home their 11th consecutive win and keep their 100% record for the season.
Mawsley attacked downhill from the kick off and Nathan did well to stop them and clear upfield to Dylan. Ollie and Jacob were passing the ball quickly in midfield but the Mawsley defence seemed to have the measure of our forwards.
Mawsley were also passing the ball extremely well and Nathan, Tom, Sam and William had to work hard together to keep them at bay. Mawsley were good at keeping the ball and forced a couple of free kicks which Nathan and William dealt with comfortably.
Nine minutes into the game Ollie played a ball into the box, Dylan and Jacob both followed in and were battling with Mawsley’s keeper and a couple of defenders in front of goal when the ball eventually crossed the line as a defender tried to clear: 1-0
A couple of minutes later Dylan was brought down on the edge of the box but the free kick hit the wall and the follow up went high over the bar. Mawsley then broke quickly but William raced back to force a corner which Cole caught with ease. A few moments later Dylan broke down the left after a great pass from Tom but, with Jacob and Ollie clear in front of goal, the cross was too hard and missed them.
Mawsley kept up the pressure but Cole was in superb form, catching corners and dominating his area. As the half drew to an end Ollie had a couple of shots; one saved after Jacob battled well to win the ball and found him with a great pass and another went wide after some good work from Nathan and Jacob.
Half time: 1-0
The Wolves dominated the first five minutes of the second half but Mawsley defended strongly and the forwards didn’t have the time or space to add to the score. Mawsley managed a couple of breaks as the Wolves lost their shape in midfield and Cole made a couple of great saves. Tom also made another last ditch clearance as a Mawsley goal looked on the cards and Sam headed the ball out of play to stop yet another Mawsley break.
The Wolves created a couple of half chances and Tom had a good long shot saved but this was a day for the defences with a scrappy goal separating the two teams.
Final score: 1-0
This was a tough game against a team that will win more often than they lose. Prior to this game Mawsley had kept five clean sheets and the Wolves needed to play a lot smarter up front to break down a determined and organised defence. The Wolves need to work on their discipline in midfield; however, the passing was a lot quicker today. Like today we will get more and more games when we only get a few decent chances to score and we need to make sure that we are better at making the right decisions when we get those opportunities.
