Four star Ash Downing helps Wakefield Athletic to make Seymour Memorial Trophy progress

In conditions more suited to flying kites Whitwood were left wondering what had hit them in the form of "Hurricane" Downing.

His first goal was arguably his best when he beat two men and rifled an absolute bullet into the net on 10 minutes.

Whitwood, to their credit, tried to play football in the gusty conditions and equalised as a cross fell kindly for Charlie Holt to coolly finish past Will Rushforth in the Athletic goal to level the scoreline.

With the wind proving to be difficult to manage, Athletic were encouraged to keep the ball on the deck and move it quickly and when Dean Normington slid Downing through with a perfectly weighted pass after he held off two defenders, it was no surprise to see the net bulge again although it was a surprise to see that Downing had scored with his weaker right foot.

Athletic came out in the second half knowing they had another gear to move into and even though they were playing into the wind, it did not stop them taking a 3-1 lead when a trademark long goal kick from keeper Rushforth completely split apart the Whitwood centre-backs, allowing Downing to steal in and add his dessert to his starter and main course to complete his hat-trick with another well placed finish.

Whitwood did not let their heads drop and tried and get back into the game, but a combination of tired legs and some poor final balls let them down.

They inevitably left gaps at the back which Lee Mulligan exploited perfectly with a sweet long ball to captain Dalton Holford who then set up Downing for his fourth (and second with his right foot) to add a night cap to his three-course meal of goals.

With Athletic now sitting back and defending comfortably, it took an absolute wonder strike for Whitwood to score a consolation when Jake Roberts got his revenge from an earlier one v one save by Rushforth by scoring the goal of the game with an acrobatic scissor kick from nearly 18 yards out that sent the ball flying into the top corner.

The On Track Coffee man of the match award for was shared by Downing, Holford and Mulligan.

Wakefield Athletic B dominated their President’s Cup tie away at Graziers FC Reserves, but had to wait for a penalty shoot-out success to secure their passage into the second round.

On an unpredictably blustery morning, combined with muddy conditions, the game was a scrappy affair with no long periods of possession from either side. With that said, the visitors carved out four good opportunities in the first half, which they failed to convert.

Leading scorer Matty Wootton netted the first of a brace on 55 minutes, beating the offside trap to slide in his effort near post from 10 yards, following industrious work from forward Jacob Laskowski.

The home side levelled when a flick on from a corner was tapped in by Scott Morton and 10 minutes later they took a shock lead when their striker Leigh Rattigan managed to squeeze the ball past returning keeper Ali Jamegay.

Wootton drew the visitors level after Harrison Carney crossed the ball into Ryan Jones, who suitably laid it off for the midfielder to hit a powerful shot into the top right of the goal.

Jamegay then pulled off a great one handed save in the air, top corner job to keep his side in the game.

Despite a late flurry of efforts from both sides, the referee blew his whistle to end normal time at 2-2 and send the game to immediate penalties.

Jamegay now really came into his own during the spot kicks, acrobatically saving two and also deploying his mind games in the shoot-out phase.

Athletic scored three out of four to advance to the next round, with Kieran Noon, Wootton and Aaron Dooley on target to clinch a 3-1 win on penalties.

Following the game, Athletic manager Jonny Wootton, said: “It wasn’t our best performance, but I was delighted by how well we defended, especially with a scratch back three.

“Our keeper really was the star of the show, though, but we all know how good he is at saving penalties.”

The Wates man of the match award was shared by Ali Jamegay and centre backs Josh Hemingway and Ryan Cooper.

Wakefield Athletic’s Premiership One fixture against AFC Chickenley was cancelled 35 minutes before kick-off with their opponents notifying Athletic that they only had six players available.

Athletic's warm-up session on the field of play was interrupted with the news of their opponents’ non-fulfilment and now they do not have another fixture until Sunday, January 5, 2025.