Jake Morrison's return is bright spot but Wakefield AFC lose out twice

Wakefield headed into an evening fixture against 15th-placed Nostell MW with hopes of building on a solid win in their previous fixture against Athersley Recreation.

With manager Gabe Mozzini returning from suspension, there was a buoyant mood among the 242 strong home crowd, but any positivity was quickly quashed by a rapid Nostell start that saw them take the lead in just the third minute through Joe Wood.

Things went from bad to worse moments later when Nostell doubled their lead through Nicholas Lalousis.

On a harrowing evening there was no real sign of a response from Wakefield with Nostell quicker to every ball and the more threatening of the two sides.

There was slight improvement in the second half, when Jake Morrison – whose return from a long injury had been delayed by a red card against Worsbrough at the beginning of the month – came on in the second half having served his three match suspension. He had Wakefield’s only shots on target, albeit from what could only be described as half chances.

Wakefield did see themselves in with a sniff of an unlikely point in stoppage time after Morrison pulled one back from the spot with his eighth goal of the season; the goalkeeper seeing red for a foul in the box, meaning Morrison had his old team-mate George Bason to beat as the ex-Wakefield ‘keeper came off the bench, but was sent the wrong way by the ice-cool Morrison.

Nostell did see the game out for a deserved victory, though, meaning Wakefield, off the back of one of their worst performances of the season, had some serious soul searching to do prior to Saturday’s game away to play-off rivals Staveley MW.

Mozzini resisted the urge to ring the changes as he largely kept faith in the players named in recent sides. Henry Kendrick returned from injury in goal, while Harley Blankley replaced new signing Tom Almond in midfield for his first appearance in six games. It was the system that changed, with Wakefield reverting to a back four in a 4-3-3 formation.

Wakefield AFC back to winning ways after improved defensive display

The early signs were positive as Wakefield had lots of possession on the slick, artificial surface. However, for the third time in the last four games, Wakey’s momentum was halted by conceding in the first five minutes.

Jaydan Sandhu turned into trouble, under pressure and outnumbered, in the middle of the park. The ball was snatched from him with Staveley’s quick counter eventually seeing a slide-rule pass play Samuel Kay in towards the left of the Wakefield box. He finished without hesitation, beating Kendrick low down to the near post.

With confidence knocked, Wakefield gradually reverted back into their shell and saw less and less of the ball as the half wore on. They were lucky to return to the dressing room at half-time just one goal down, with Staveley seeing several chances; once when Kendrick saved well from a point-blank header, another when their striker was played through but somehow shot wide and then just before the whistle when the inside of Wakefield’s post was rattled.

Mozzini changed things early in the second half, moving to a 4-4-2 formation as Morrison came on to partner Lewis Stephens up front, while birthday boy and fan favourite Owen Kirman occupied the right wing.

The two had a real impact on the game, Kirman providing much needed width, pace and directness; and the front two offering real presence.

It was no surprise that the two substitutes combined quickly for Morrison to penetrate the box and see his subsequent shot cleared off the line.

Wakefield, maintaining the pressure following that chance, did equalise seconds later when Kieran Ceesay received the ball on the left wing. His quick feet beat two players as he darted in to the box before attempting to cross towards the back post. That cross took a favourable deflection for the away side; Staveley unable to keep the ball out of the net as Jack Dolman was marked down with the own goal.

Wakefield’s pressure continued and, in and among several good efforts from Morrison, two shouts of penalties were waved away by the ref. The first involved Morrison himself as he went down when attempting to meet a free-kick under pressure from his marker. Seconds later, after one of several menacing runs from Kirman – enjoying his biggest haul of minutes since October in what was his 50th appearance for the club – the winger appeared to be clipped from behind when crossing the ball, but the referee’s whistle was not forthcoming.

As the game moved towards stoppage time it appeared Wakefield would have to settle for a point despite all their pressure; arguably a fair result given Staveley’s first half dominance.

Nonetheless, the away side continued to press until the first minute of stoppage time when Staveley countered quickly down the right. There was a possibility of offside as the ball was delivered in behind the back-tracking Wakefield defence for Max Rhodes to bear down on goal.

With no choice but to close the attacker down, Kendrick dove toward the striker’s feet just as he shifted the ball at the last moment, meaning the player was bundled over and a spot-kick awarded.

A heartbreaking end to the game followed as Archie White sent Kendrick the wrong way to snatch all three points with nearly the last act.

After a really difficult week and back-to-back league losses for the first time since the beginning of October, Wakefield remain outside the play-off spots in sixth, level on points with Horbury Town above them and four behind Staveley in fourth, albeit with two games in hand.

With Horbury still to come, the run-in is set to be a dramatic affair for Wakefield who, if their second half performance is replicated, will still be confident of catching those above.

However, things do not get any easier as Wakefield now get set to face runaway leaders Campion back at home at The Millennium Stadium tonight (Tuesday), kick-off 7.45pm.