A glorious Saturday morning greeted the first game of the 2012/2013 season as W&P, fresh from relegation last season hosted DK. With a fair few new faces in the W&P team and also a new manager this game was to prove a stern test for the home side.
After a very good opening 15 minutes it was great to see both teams getting the ball down and playing some nice passing football. Having had most of the pressure and a couple of half chances W&P were rewarded by taking the lead when a through ball from midfield was met by striker Luke Werhun, who kept his cool to slot home past the keeper.
The next 15 minutes or so were pretty much the same as the first, with both teams showing signs of early season form by playing some very nice football. W&P were then awarded a free kick just inside the opposition half, the ball was whipped in from the left and after a knock down from Paggy (attempted shot) the ball fell to Nat Lodge who smartly finished on the volley to double the home sides advantage, 2-0. This goal seemed to kick DK up a gear and they started to pressure the W&P defence more often and they were rewarded just before half time after some nice work down the wing, the ball was pulled back to the six yard area where Harrison Day-Bradley was on hand to fire home giving the keeper no chance,2-1. The halftime whistle blew and with W&P taking a narrow advantage in, the game was still in the balance.
The second half started off the same as the first and it was good to see both teams playing football. After half chances for both teams a long ball over the top towards the corner from the Wolves midfield was chased down by Luke, and after some hard work and hustling and bustling he was able to pull back across the goal where the DK defender deflected into his own net. 3-1. With their 2 goal advantage restored W&P searched for a fourth and with the introduction of Olly just before the goal it seemed to freshen up the midfield, with the substitute firing over a couple of decent long rang efforts.
With the last 15 minutes approaching DK pressed to get back into the game, their persistence paid off when some sloppy defending allowed the DK attacker into the area where he was upended by the W&P keeper. Michael Worthington missed the resulting penalty but did well to score on the rebound beating a sprawling W&P keeper. This set up a very interesting final 10 minutes where as expected DK pressed for an equaliser. W&P held out for a well fought win and will be delighted to start the season with 3 points. It was a great game of football to be involved with. Good Luck to DK for the rest of the season and we look forward to another tough game at their place later on in the season.
Luke French
Captain
Wolverhampton & Perton
