Late goal denies Wakefield AFC victory to bid farewell to Millennium Stadium

Wakefield AFC graced The Millennium Stadium pitch for the final time on Saturday ahead of their much anticipated move to Wakefield Trinity’s revamped Belle Vue next season, with Rossington Main the visitors for their penultimate game of the regular season.
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After a good win in midweek away to play-off chasing Horbury Town – Mason Rubie the difference with the solitary goal of the match – Saturday’s game acted as a dress rehearsal for the looming play-off semi-finals, with Main almost certain to finish third, above Wakefield who had already secured fourth in the league, writes Austin AInsworth.

The fact that the game had almost no bearing on the league did not seem to affect either side’s approach in what proved to be a real humdinger of a game.

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Billy Mole returned from suspension to start behind Jake Morrison, Wakefield’s go-to goalscoring duo of last season starting together for the first time since August after an injury-hit campaign.

Wakefield AFC goal scorer Billy Mole holds the ball up against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott MerryleesWakefield AFC goal scorer Billy Mole holds the ball up against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott Merrylees
Wakefield AFC goal scorer Billy Mole holds the ball up against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott Merrylees

New signing Romario Vieira made his second successive start, this time on the left of a front three, with the rest of the side unchanged from the victory over Horbury.

It was a frenetic start to the game as both sides had good chances to score in the opening 10 minutes; keeper Gladding making himself big to make a fine one-on-one save, before Mole saw a first-time shot from a tight angle go narrowly wide.

The opening goal came minutes later as Robbie Miller picked out a great pass from the back, up to Vieira who was tightly marked with his back to goal. An incredible first touch saw him spin the Rossington defender, before he clipped the ball through to Morrison who ran off his marker’s shoulder to break the offside trap.

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The striker’s eyes opened up as the ball bounced in front of him; seeing the keeper off his line, Morrison executed a perfectly weighted chip that seemed to take an age to cross the line.

Romario Vieira in full stride for Wakefield AFC.Romario Vieira in full stride for Wakefield AFC.
Romario Vieira in full stride for Wakefield AFC.

The visitors responded well, using their physicality in the box to see close range shots cleared off the line and skied over the bar in the following minutes.

That pressure did pay off in the 23rd minute when Main eventually capitalised on their set-piece prowess.

On a day of refereeing decisions that were questionable and frustrating in equal measure, the official blew for a free-kick 40 yards out for an innocuous hand-ball, after the ball was fired at what appeared to be Jock Curran’s stomach from all of two feet.

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To compound Wakefield’s exasperation, there was then a hint of a foul in the box when Rossington’s man-mountain of a centre-back climbed all over Haydn Ward to nod the ball down for an easy tap-in from Matthew Wilson.

Jake Morrison scored two goals as he is working his way back to full fitness for Wakefield AFC after a long injury lay-off.Jake Morrison scored two goals as he is working his way back to full fitness for Wakefield AFC after a long injury lay-off.
Jake Morrison scored two goals as he is working his way back to full fitness for Wakefield AFC after a long injury lay-off.

Wakefield started to see some dominance of their own after that, keeping plenty of possession in Rossington’s half, albeit never truly threatening the goal.

With that in mind, it felt like a real blow when Rossington took the lead shortly before half-time. It was a poor goal to concede, Rossington’s winger advancing too easily down the right to cross to the near post. Gladding made a great save before Miller somehow kept the rebound off the line, however Manasse Kianga was then left a simple tap in to score.

With a deflated half-time team talk seconds away, Morrison appeared to have changed the mood when he fired in at the far post from a Wakefield corner in the 45th minute.

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The referee delayed the celebrations, however, when he blew his whistle to award a penalty for handball just as Morrison shot. No doubt the striker would have rather kept his goal, but fortunately he kept his head to side-foot the penalty to the keeper’s right to ensure Wakefield went in level at the break after his 12th goal of the season.

Wakefield AFC's recent signing Romario Vieira aims to get an effort in against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott MerryleesWakefield AFC's recent signing Romario Vieira aims to get an effort in against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott Merrylees
Wakefield AFC's recent signing Romario Vieira aims to get an effort in against Rossington Main. Picture: Scott Merrylees
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Manager Gabe Mozzini made changes at half-time, with Aaron Pilkington and Owen Kirman coming on to offer defensive bite and penetration out wide respectively.

The game, as it had done to the that point, remained evenly balanced, until top scorer Mole bagged his 18th goal of another prolific season from midfield just after the hour mark.

He benefited from a visionary, first-time Danny Youel pass from deep, before beating the defender shoulder-to-shoulder to race in on goal.

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The number 10 delayed his shot before smartly using his marker as a shield to pass the ball just inside of the right post to give Wakefield the lead.

Perhaps with the play-offs in mind, both sides made several substitutions in the second half and it looked as though the game was heading towards a Wakefield victory that would have see them bow out at the Millennium Stadium in style.

Rossington, evidently keen not to allow Wakefield any psychological edge ahead of the play-offs, had other ideas as they started to pepper the Wakefield goal in the dying minutes.

With Rossington having almost scored with an audacious overhead kick that went just over the bar, Gladding then denied the visitors with a good stretching save in the second minute of added time, before the rebound rattled the crossbar.

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It was clear Wakefield were living on the edge and that meant nerves were aplenty among the 408 spectators when Rossington were awarded a corner in the 93rd minute.

Main took their opportunity, with a good delivery deflected to the back post for Reiss Harrison to tuck the ball home, denying Wakefield victory with almost the last kick of the game making it 3-3.

Despite that late disappointment for Wakefield, there were several positives to take from the game; key players got valuable minutes ahead of the play-offs, the Millennium Stadium witnessed a memorable match to close out Wakefield’s time there and, most importantly, Wakefield will head to Doncaster in two week’s time knowing they can more than match Rossington.

Before that is the final game of the season away to Parkgate, when Mozzini will have to weigh up whether to rest players or give his preferred play-off 11 a chance to gel. Kick-off is at 3pm on Saturday.

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