Wolves under-23s ensured they finished the 2021/22 Premier League 2 Division 2 season in second place after fighting from two goals down against Stoke City at Molineux.
A pair of goals either side of the break from Emre Tezgel saw Stoke in control, but with 20 minutes of the game remaining, Joe Hodge’s long-range shot halved the deficit before Chem Campbell’s cross evaded everyone in the box before nestling itself in the back of the net, which earned his side the point they needed to claim home advantage in the post-season play-offs.
A scrappy opening 20 minutes to the game saw chances few and far between for both sides, but it was the hosts who looked the most threatening.
After his brace against Newcastle United last time out, Hugo Bueno was full of confidence and was dictating play down the Wolves left with a number of neat crosses which just narrowly missed the heads of the onrushing gold and black shirts.
Just ahead of the Spaniard on the Wolves left was Campbell, and it was the Welsh winger who had the games’ first effort on target when he found space on the edge of the penalty area, but his curling effort was straight at Stoke goalkeeper Tommy Simkin. Moments earlier, Campbell had used his pace and skill down the left to win his side a corner after his shot was blocked.
An experienced Stoke side, which included the likes of Morgan Fox, Nick Powell and D’Margio Wright-Phillips, offered growing warning signs to Wolves throughout the first-half, but Palmi Arinbjornsson between the sticks for the hosts was left mainly untroubled, thanks to the assistant referee twice flagging for offside against the Potters.
But with five minutes to go, the visitors had the chance to take the lead when Yerson Mosquera was adjudged to have committed a foul in the penalty area, and Tezgel stepped up and sent Arinbjornsson the wrong way.
Having fallen behind, Wolves were sparked into life at the other end with Luke Cundle benefitted from some slick passing by those in gold shirts, as the midfielder’s effort took a heavy deflection and looper over Simkin but fell just wide of the post.
Stoke began the second-half strongly and doubled their advantage through Tezgel, who found the net for the second time in the evening as he was picked out in the penalty area before heading a first-time effort into the top corner.
Wolves were putting pressure on the Stoke defence in search of cutting the deficit, but when they were able to break though the red and white shirts, they found Simkin in the way, with the keeper at full stretch to deny Bueno a third goal in two games after the wing-back was found inside the box before unleashing an effort on target which was palmed away, before replicating his heroics moments later to stop Harkin from finding the back of the net.
Arinbjornsson was not to be outdone by his opposite number, with the Icelandic youth international pulling off a double save to keep out Stoke, while denying Tezgel the chance of a hat-trick, with those saves crucial with Wolves going up the other end and pulling a goal back.
Campbell worked the ball well down the left to earn his side a corner, and from the resulting set-piece, the ball fell to the feet of Hodge, 25 yards out, and the midfielder lashed the ball inside the post, giving his team a lifeline.
The goal appeared to spark Wolves into life, with the hosts piling the pressure on Stoke but were struggling to find a clinical final ball to break down a deep lying defence, until Campbell’s whipped delivery from the left avoided all the bodies in the box, with Harvey Griffiths and Christian Marques lurking, but found its way inside the far post to get the hosts back on level terms.
The fightback was almost complete inside the eight minutes of added time when Cundle’s free-kick was headed into the path of Justin Hubner, and with the goal at his mercy inside the penalty area, the Dutch defender got his shot on target, but Simkin was able to get strong hands to the ball to push it clear of goal.
Cundle then almost snatched a winner with the last kick of the game, but his long-range shot just fell wide of the post, however, a point was enough for Wolves to secure home advantage in the Division 2 play-offs with just one game of the Division 2 campaign remaining.
COMING UP
James Collins’ side prepare for their final match of the regular PL2 season on Friday evening as the under-23s face Norwich City at Carrow Road (7pm kick-off) before attention turns to the Premier League Cup semi-final and Division 2 play-offs in May.
NEXT THREE
29/04 Norwich City (A)
04/05 Middlesbrough (H) PLC
TBC PL2 play-off semi-final (H)
TEAMS
Wolves: Arinbjornsson, Lembikisa, Mosquera (Griffiths 62), Marques, Hubner, Hodge, Perry, Cundle, Campbell (Hesketh 90), Harkin (Roberts 82).
Unused subs: Tipton, Hodnett.
Stoke: Simkin, Sparrow, Fox, Duhaney, Forrester, Sy, Powell (Goodwin 46), Wright-Phillips, Griffiths (Jarrett 85), Oakley-Boothe, Tezgel.
Unused subs: Hemfrey, Baker, Trialist.
