Wolves 1 (Bradbury pen 42) Middlesbrough 2 (Coulson 12, Matthews 26)
Wolves under-18s were beaten in the under-18 Premier League for the first time this season, as Middlesbrough took all three points from Compton Park on Saturday.
Frankie Coulson and Ajay Matthews put the visitors into a commanding two-goal lead inside half an hour and although Makenzie Bradbury’s penalty shortly before the interval gave Wolves hope, they were unable to force a second goal to secure a point.
Wolves were back in action for the third time in seven days following victories at Derby County and Manchester United in the league and U17 Premier League Cup respectively.
Boro opened the scoring with just 12 minutes on the clock. After the ball was recycled back into the box from a corner, Coulson was on hand to divert the ball past Jimmy Storer, who was returning to action following a lengthy period out injured.
Matthews then forced Storer into a smart save at his near post, after the forward had latched onto a ball in behind down the right channel.
However, Matthews wasn’t to be denied a second time when he doubled the lead for his side just shy of the half hour. Storer did well to initially claw the ball away from danger, but Wolves were once again undone on the second phase when Matthews scored from close range.
Richard Walker’s side were afforded a route back into the game three minutes before half-time when Finlay Ashworth was brought down in the box not once, but twice. The referee finally pointed to the spot on the second foul and Bradbury made no mistake from 12 yards as he emphatically drilled home into the corner past Shea Connor.
Half-time | Wolves 1-2 Middlesbrough
Wolves made a triple change on the hour mark as Brayden Clarke, Luke Rawlings and Conor McLeod all came on with Walker looking to inject fresh legs into his side.
The hosts came close to levelling when good work from Fabian Salmon saw him cross to the back post where Fabian Reynolds was waiting. The winger took the ball down and despite slipping, managed to regain his composure to get a shot away, but Connor in between the Boro sticks saved.
Law McCabe almost made sure of the points for the away side when his drive from distance only just cleared the crossbar, however it mattered not as James Marwood’s visitors held on for all three points.
Wolves are back in action on Tuesday evening, as they make the long trip down to Southampton to open their U18 Premier League Cup campaign. The Old Gold then travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday to continue their progress in the league.
Full-time | Wolves 1-2 Middlesbrough
NEXT FIVE
Southampton (A) 26/09 PL Cup
Nottingham Forest (A) 30/09
Leeds United (H) 07/10
Man Utd (H) 21/10 PL Cup
Sunderland (A) 28/10
TEAMS
Wolves | Storer, Okoduwa (Clarke 59), Carson, Bradbury (C. McLeod 59), Voice, Igbinoghene, Reynolds, Ashworth, Salmon, Harper (Rawlings 59), Edozie (Ji 71).
Subs not used | Benjamin.
Middlesbrough | Connor, Tawiah (Acheampong 24), Samuels, Wilson, Myers-Smith, McCabe, Patterson, Hamelberg, Matthews, Cartwright (Dore 84), Coulson (O’Gorman 67).
Subs not used | Elliott, Grant.
