Benny Ashley-Seal enjoyed a night to remember at Brunton Park, firing a hat-trick to inspire Wolves to a Leasing.com Trophy victory over Carlisle United.
A pair of smart finishes from the centre forward came either side of a clinical penalty, while Tsun Dai netted his first goal in Wolves colours, as Rob Edwards’ under-21 side claimed victory.
Ashley-Seal had previously been without a goal in 2019/20 but took just 20 minutes to change that in Cumbria, exchanging passes with strike partner Austin Samuels and firing in at the near post.
The striker then watched a curling effort deflect wide, before Carlisle fought back for the first time, as Hallam Hope got the wrong side of Lewis Richards and dinked over Andreas Sondergaard.
Just five minutes later Wolves regained the lead in spectacular fashion as patient build-up play was rewarded when Tsun Dai picked his spot from all of 25 yards out and fired into the bottom corner.
The topsy-turvy first-half had one final twist however, with the Cumbrians drawing level once more when Leicester City loanee Ryan Loft was sent through and stabbed beyond Sondergaard.
With Edwards’ words still ringing in their ears, Wolves took the lead for a third time at Brunton Park as Ashley-Seal was tripped in the area by goalkeeper Louis Gray and dusted himself down to fire his penalty high into the net.
The striker’s night was to get even better too. Elliot Watt, who was brilliant in midfield, freed Oskar Buur with a defence splitting pass and he picked out Ashley-Seal to fire home his hat-trick goal to wrap up the win.
COMING UP
Wolves return to Premier League 2 Division 1 action on Friday night when Southampton travel to Telford.
NEXT FIVE
27/09 Southampton (H)
01/10 Morecambe (A) LCT
20/10 Liverpool (A)
26/20 Tottenham (H)
01/11 Derby County (A)
TEAMS
Carlisle: Gray, Elliott, Iredale, Carroll, Mellish, Hope, Jones (Hayden 60), Bridge, Branthwaite, Loft (McKirdy 77), Sorensen.
Unused subs: Collin, Charters, Barnes, Kerr, Olomola.
Wolves: Sondergaard, Buur, Nya, Cristovao, Richards, Thompson, Watt, Taylor (Hanne70), Tsun Dai (Otasowie 85), Samuels, Ashley-Seal (He 81).
Unused subs: Pardington, Wan, Csoka, Marques.
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