Wolves Res 1 Fulham Res 2

It was a team of first team fringe players that Wolves sent out at Telford on Monday rather than the usual make up of largely youth team products and that made for an interesting watch although not a great game. After the disappointing recent first team performances this was clearly an opportunity for some of these players to get some game time and make an impression and the starting line up was;

Hennessey
Stearman, Ebanks-Landell, Batth, Ihiekwe
Ismail, Edwards, Davis, Forde
Sigurdarson, Nouble

Wolves opened the game brightly and it was being played at a high tempo and was an entertaining first period. Much of the danger that Wolves were causing for the Fulham defence was coming from the runs on the right of Ismail and he won a series of corners that he was to take himself. And with Wolves having a height advantage over their oppponents those corners were creating opportunities with Stearman heading one wide and having one saved, and then Batth heading just over and then he too being foiled by the keeper.

Fulham had some players with pace and they were causing some problems with passes over the top of the defence that they could run onto. And they took the lead after 35 minutes following a mix up in the home defence. Ebanks-Landell and Batth went for the same ball and collided and the ball fell invitingly to a Fulham striker who made no mistake from 6 yards. Wolves were close to getting back on terms after excellent work by Davis in midfield who won the ball, beat an opponent and sent Nouble clear of the defence but he hit the side netting. But soon after from yet another Ismail corner Wolves were level with Sigurdarson netting with a simple header.

In a manner that will resonate with first team watchers recently the second half was nowhere near as lively. Sigurdarson was replaced by McAlinden at the break and Ebanks-Landell was injured in the collision that lead to the Fulham goal and was replaced by Kostrna at the break who played right back with Stearman moving to the middle. Two Anthony Forde long range shots were the closest Wolves came to a goal early in the half. And the one clear chance to win the game for Wolves came when Ismail and Forde linked on the left after a corner and when Forde’s cross found Stearman on the back post he should have done better than blast over the bar. Fulham scored the winner late on when they got to the byeline on the right and pulled the ball back to an unmarked midfield player to score easily.

Hennessey – no chance with the goals and looked confident without having any difficult saves to make
Stearman – generally good with a couple of losses of concentration almost letting Fulham in
Ebanks Landell – injured in the incident leading to Fulham’s opener
Batth – commanding at the back and more than ready for a first team chance if needed
Ihiekwe – more comfortable at right back but looks promising
Ismail – caused lots of problems with his first half runs. Not so effective after the break but must be nearly ready for a first team bench role
Edwards – usual busy performance without making any great impact
Davis – showed that the promise is there with some good ball winning and passing
Forde – probably the best player on the day with some good runs, crosses and shots
Sigurdarson – a really lively 45 minutes that restored the faith after his poor first team showing at the weekend
Nouble – mixed bag with some poor control and some powerful runs on the ball
McAlinden – another promising youngster that will be much saught after by lower division teams looking for a striker on loan
Kostrna – some good overlaps in the second half

Not a great game but enough from the likes of Davis, Forde, Ismail, Batth and Sigurdarsen to show there is some talent in the fringe squad after all.

Category: Team News