Wolves 1 (Igbinoghene 40) Northampton Town 1 (Jenkins 22)
Wolves under-18s played out a highly competitive 1-1 draw against Northampton Town in a pre-season friendly at Compton Park.
With the league campaign on the horizon, the Old Gold youngsters went behind in the 22nd minute through Leo Jenkins. Still, Wolves pulled back level in the 40th minute through Testimony Igbinoghene to ensure a draw in their fourth pre-season fixture.
The Cobblers started the brighter of the two sides, with the travelling team going close occasionally from set pieces.
Northampton thought they had broken the deadlock in the 15th minute when Reuben Wyatt sent a long ball over the top for Jamari Hart. The young Cobbler drove a brilliant half-volley over the on-rushing Lewys Benjamin, but the move was ruled out for a close offside.
Hayden Carson then provided some brilliant defending to force a Northampton attacker to the byline as the Wolves captain blocked the shot and saw it out for a corner. However, the resulting set-piece was only cleared as far as Wyatt on the edge of the area. The Northampton forward drove wide and sent a low cross across into Jenkins, who poked home from close range.
With just under five minutes remaining of the opening period, Wolves managed to find the equaliser.
Richard Walker's side were dominating the ball and made possession count when Igbinoghene calmly slotted home at the back post from a low-driven cross from the right.
Half-time | Wolves 1-1 Northampton Town
Wolves showed their dominance in the opening 20 minutes after the restart and came close to taking the lead.
Makenzie Bradbury weaved in and out of numerous Northampton bodies with neat footwork and arrived at the edge of the area to slide in Igbinoghene, but the angle was against him to create a clear-cut chance.
The Old Gold kept pushing for a goal to take the lead, and Dom Plank had an opportunity in the closing stages. The forward showed some brilliant creativity to drive inside unmarked and reach the danger area, but Plank couldn't get his shot away in time.
That meant both teams had to settle for a draw, with Walker's side looking to go one better on Tuesday afternoon in their penultimate pre-season game against Notts County.
Full-time | Wolves 1-1 Northampton Town
REACTION
After the match, head coach Richard Walker talked about his view on the game, the timing of the goal just before half-time, what he is searching for in the remaining two pre-season fixtures and instilling a winning mentality into the team.
On his thoughts on the game
"It was a really good exercise. The week as a whole has been a really tough week for the lads physically.
"We half anticipated there may be a bit of hangover from that today, with the bigger picture being the league campaign and the development of the players throughout the year in mind.
"The lads were really good, and their fitness levels were high, and they were up against a really strong and physical Northampton side who didn't mess around and got the ball in our box at every opportunity.
"At first, we didn't quite get a grip of that, and it took us 15-20 minutes to really get hold of that which is to be expected because it's a style we wouldn't have encountered often, but they stood up to that well.
"Going a goal behind it would have been so easy for the group to go under, but I thought they showed real resilience and character.
"As well as the physical exercise, the psychological test today was one that the players ticked a box off for me and again showed good bravery to continue to try and play whilst weathering the physical bombardment coming their way."
On the goal before coming just before half-time
"The goal is a good one, and I'm pleased with it and probably should have gone on and won it, but I am just glad we didn't lose it because it would have been easy to get done on the break, so a pleasing end to a good week.
"Half-time, from my point of view as a coaching staff, we discussed it and thought we needed a calm approach regardless of whether we scored the goal.
"Because, as I said before, this was a different test. There were a couple of older boys in, and I think it just needed that calm head and message and the goal is the best remedy in terms of making sure there is a calmness.
"However, regardless of the goal, it would have been the same messages in terms of enjoy the defending side and show the composure to play when we have the ball."
On what he is looking to find in the remaining pre-season fixtures
"Today was the first 90 minutes for the group, so again, off the back of a really tough week which was by design, it will be tougher than anything they will encounter during the season.
"On Tuesday, we have another game against Notts County, which will be another opportunity for some of the under 16s to get involved but also to make sure that everyone gets 90 minutes again.
"Our final pre-season game is then against Norwich City next Saturday, which is category one opposition, so hopefully, that will really look like the games we will encounter in the under-18s Premier League this season."
On instilling a winning mentality into the lads in pre-season
"As a group of staff, we have objectives technically and tactically but also psychologically.
'The group has been a young one for a while, and they have suffered a lot of setbacks as a result, and that is by design in terms of the challenges they have faced.
"Last season, at times when the games were in the balance, the group often came out on the wrong end of that so from a psychological point of view.
"The group of staff want to make sure we support them through that process of when it's tight and (the result) could go either way it doesn't go against us.
"Hopefully, we can progress to a stage where when it's tight, there is a real strong belief that we will end out on top in the game and be the victors.
"It is not the priority as I don't pay a massive amount of notice to results in pre-season because there are objectives that you want for the bigger picture for the season ahead."
NEXT TWO
- 01/08 Notts County
- 05/08 Norwich City
TEAMS
Wolves | Lewys Benjamin (GK), Mo Diomande, Brayden Clarke, Makenzie Bradbury, Hayden Carson, Testimony Igbinoghene (Caden Voice 88), Conor McLeod, Fraser Harper (Luke O'Donnell 57), Fabian Salmon (Fabian Reynolds 90+1), Finn Ashworth, Dom Plank.
Northampton Town | Stevie Bausor (GK), Will Ronald, Leo Jenkins, Kiantay Licorish-Mullings, Matty Ireland, James Owen, Jacob Scott, Harry Guess, Reuben Wyatt, Charlie Carroll, Jamari Hart.
Report by Jordan Preece
