Wealdstone 1 (Lee 46) Wolves 3 (Ji 65, Anunlopo 72, Gonzales-Osbourne 80)
Wolves under-21s overcame a one-goal deficit to secure victory in the National League Cup as they beat Wealdstone 3-1 at Grosvenor Vale.
Spectacular strikes from Minkyu Ji, Isaiah Gonzales-Osbourne and a solo effort from Oladapo Anunlopo cancelled out Callum Lee’s early opener just after half time to secure the first three points of the National League Cup campaign.
After the opening stages of the game were heavily contested in midfield, the Wolves defence was called into action twice as Josh Gracey parried the ball wide from a free kick heading for the top corner, before Saheed Olagunju stretched his foot to clear the ball off the line.
Despite heavy spells of pressure throughout the first half by Wealdstone, Rich Walker’s side had a great opportunity to open the scoring after the ball was deflected into the path of Tom Edozie inside the penalty area, who dragged his effort wide of the post.
Gracey was called into action again on the half-hour mark as the ball was whipped in to Jayden Harris at the back post, whose shot forced the Wolves keeper down to his right to divert the ball behind for a corner.
10 minutes before the break, the Old Gold had another fantastic opportunity as Emilio Ballard-Matthews forced an error from the Wealdstone defence before cutting back to Dani Angel, who saw his shot blocked.
Ji was then able to win his duel to find space on the left wing before switching the ball to Ballard-Matthews, who chested the ball down before volleying narrowly wide of the mark.
Picture credits: Wealdstone FC
Half-Time: Wealdstone 0-0 Wolves
The Stones started the quicker of the two teams and got their reward just a minute into the second half as substitute Callum Lee took advantage of a loose ball inside the area to find the middle of the goal from close range.
In the 65th minute, after Wolves had their penalty appeals waved away, a free kick from the edge of the area saw Ji whip a delightful effort into the top corner to level the scoring.
Anunlopo then scored a second goal for the Old Gold seven minutes after the leveller as he used his pace to advance down the left wing before firing a powerful shot into the bottom corner.
Whilst Wolves had taken control of the game, chances came at both ends as Angel missed his one-on-one attempt before Seb Lochhead was quickest to react inside his own penalty area to divert the ball away from a Wealdstone rebound.
The two-goal margin was eventually found in the 80th minute as the ball was played out to Enso Gonzelez, who cut the ball back to 15-year-old Gonzales-Osbourne, who curled a spectacular effort into the bottom corner on his under-21 debut to earn them their first win of the National League Cup.
Full-Time: Wealdstone 1-3 Wolves
Wealdstone: Holden (GK), Kadji (Lee 29), Olomola, Harris, Chesters (McKain 89), Francis-Clarke, Henry (Folorunsho 46), Mullins, Smith (Kaunda 70), Waweru, Mundle-Smith (Zezula 70)
Subs: Baptiste (GK)
Wolves: Gracey (GK), Dayman, White, Olagunju, Lochhead, Ashworth (Gonzales-Osbourne 62), Ballard-Matthews (Gonzalez 62), Xu Bin (Lyons 80), Ji (Nolan-Ruddock 90), Edozie (Anunlopo 62), Angel
Subs: Harrison (GK), Fraser
By Ollie Heathcote