Wolves under-18s commanded a 3-0 victory over Burnley at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground with goals from Ackeme Francis-Burrell, Tyler Roberts and Josh Esen.
A perfectly struck first time strike from outside the box by Josh Esen was the final blow by Wolves who finished the match 3-0 victors whilst also keeping a clean sheet.
Steve Davis’ side begun the game battling out a heavily contested midfield. Neither side created many chances until Ty Barnett smashed the crossbar in the 18th minute after being set up by Tylor Roberts who had won the ball back on the halfway line before driving at the defence.
Ackeme Francis-Burrell then opened the scoring for the home side thanks to a powerful header seven minutes later. Temple Ojinnaka curled in a cross deep from right back towards the penalty spot, Francis-Burrell beat his marker to the ball first and headed low into the ground to the right of Charlie Casper.
Another goal, this time from Roberts, finished off a positive half for Wolves. After picking up the ball wide right, the captain charged goalwards, opening up space in front of him to shoot. Once inside the box, he arrowed a shot across the face of goal, nailing the ball into the top left corner and doubled the lead.
Burnley made the second-half more difficult and created some dangerous scoring opportunities. A clipped cross to the back post by Sean Etaluku narrowly missed the head of his attacking teammates before a long-range effort from Will Couch glided just over the crossbar a minute later.
However, the Burnley attacks would soon be silenced by a third goal from Wolves. Charging up the pitch with the ball once again, Roberts breezed through the midfield before setting the ball up for Esen just outside the penalty area. Wolves’ number 10 sweetly struck the ball first time, curling it into the top right corner of the goal.
A late free-kick on the edge of the penalty area made for a nervy ending to the match, but to Jimmy Storer’s delight, Ryan Tioffo lifted the free-kick into the hands of the Wolves goalkeeper earning him a clean sheet and the home side all three points.
REACTION
Head coach Steve Davis was delighted with his teams’ performance saying his side deserved the result. He said: “We got what we deserved in the end with the result, I think we could have got more.
“With the football we knew what we were up against, second balls, coping with the penetration in behind and things like that.
“Fair play to Burnley they kept going so they didn’t make it easy, so I think we deserved the result because of the way we played.”
On another impressive showing by Tyler Roberts
“I gave him the captains armband over the last couple of games and he makes an impact most games. Even if he’s having a quiet period, he’ll still produce something in the game.
“I’m really pleased, he’s seemed to have adapted really well to the wing position and coming inside and using his left foot which we’re trying to get more out of him. He’s shown today he can score some really good goals and he did the same against Manchester United the week before.
“He’s on a bit of a rich vein of form with goals and he’s starting to score most games so that’s got to be his goals, his targets from now until Christmas.”
On keeping a clean sheet
“The back four need to ensure the people in front of them are doing their job and it’s easy to get complacent when you’re 3-0 up.
“The game and the tempo had slowed down and you can get a bit sloppy and we did get a little bit sloppy at times in terms of where we recovered to out of possession.
“But I’m pleased for Jimmy [Storer] because he had a difficult game last week where he was outstanding but still conceded four goals, so today, I’m really pleased for him and with the back four generally as well.”
COMING UP
Derby County travel to the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground to face Wolves next week and Davis believes that they will see more of the same football in seven days’ time.
“Hopefully more of the same from us,” Davis said. “More of the same commitment and energy and quality. For us it’s about the players, the individuals and making them do the right things, things that are going to get them into the next level, the under-23s.
“We’ve just got to try and be consistent with what we do, we can’t be having games where we see lots of good things then the next game we don’t. For me, it will be more of what we’ve seen today and hopefully we can do some things better next week.”
NEXT FIVE
06/11 Derby County (H)
20/11 Middlesbrough (H)
24/11 Aston Villa (H) U17 PLC
27/11 Birmingham City (H) U18 PLC
04/12 Nottingham Forrest (H)
TEAMS
Wolves: Storer, Ojinnaka (Sharhar 73), Keto-Diyawa, Rees, Hubner, Mabete, Roberts (McLeod 70), Francis-Burrell, Farmer (Fraser 82), Esen, Barnett.
Unused subs: Amos, Diomande.
Burnley: Casper, Williams, McCullough, Bauress, Leckie, Sassi, Etaluku (Le Fondre 70), Couch (Gromek 70), Ratchford, Eastmond, Walters (Tioffo 70).
Unused subs: Vilar-Robinson, James.
Words by Tom Alston
