Wolves U23s 2 (Ennis 28', Samuels 49')
Newcastle United U23s 0
Report by Holly Percival
Goals from Niall Ennis and Austin Samuels denied the Magpies the chance to stay above Wolves and also bought the opposition's unbeaten streak to an end.
With both teams charging out of the blocks from kick-off, the end-to-end gameplay was exciting to watch. However, it was Newcastle who almost took the lead in the 25th minute.
The ball fell to the feet of Elias Sorensen who tapped it over the line, only for the Newcastle forward to find himself in an offside position.
Wolves were quick to counter, finding themselves 1-0 up in the 28th minute after a through ball to Ennis allowed him to slot the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
It wasn't until the second half that either keeper was tested and yet again it was the Magpies keeper Freddie Woodman under the spotlight.
Andrew Sealy-Harris' cross from the left-hand side of the box was met with a diving header from Samuels, doubling Wanderers' lead in just the 49th minute.
The visitors continued to show determination as Newcastle striker Cal Roberts had two of his team's best chances throughout the game. The first in the 70th minute where his shot from the left-hand side of the box skimmed the outside of the left post.
The second in the 82nd minute where he found himself one-on-one with the keeper, Andreas Sondergaard, but this time his shot went just wide of the right post.
The remainder of the match saw manager Rob Edwards' side hold off the visitors to keep their two-goal lead as the full-time whistle was blown.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH:
The first of the two Wolves goals would not have been achieved if it wasn't for the stunning passing ability of Oskar Buur and Carlos Heredia. Short quick passes between the pair got them around four of Newcastle's players and in turn, opened up the play which allowed Ennis to get through to goal.
QUOTES:
After the match, Wolves' manager Edwards had a lot of praise for his players. He said, "I thought we showed good control in the game, I thought the two goals were outstanding. I thought in the last 20 minutes we need to learn how to continue to control the game. We can't complain though, we kept a clean sheet and won the game!
"We are missing four lads, for a good reason, they are playing for the first team, and it's shown that the other players have done well to maintain the level of play."
Looking forward to future games, Edwards spoke about how he wants his team to progress. He said, "We want to control games with the ball and we want to try and have players who are ready to play for the first team so it was pleasing to see that."
Finally, he spoke about his teams positive start to the season, "We want to keep the winning run going for as long as possible but we know at some stage that's going to come to an end, that's inevitable, that's football, but as long as we still try to do the right things then I'll be happy."
ATTENDANCE: 209
NEXT FIVE:
31/08 - Norwich City (A)
04/09 - Scunthorpe United (A) *Checkatrade Trophy
14/09 - Fulham (A)
24/09 - Sunderland (H)
28/09 - Middlesbrough (H)
TEAMS:
Wolves: Sondergaard, Buur, John, Molberg, Kilman, Stevenson, Heredia, Trialist (McKenna 74'), Ennis, Samuels (Perry 74'), Harris-Sealy (Csoka 83').
Newcastle United: Woodman, Cass, Gibson, Bailey, O'Connor, Watts (Longstaff 80'), Allan (Wilson 65'), Barlaser, Charman, Sorensen (Sangare 58'), Roberts.
