Logan Owen-Willams is hero as Wakefield Athletic progress via penalty shoot-out success against Welfare

Hero of the hour was 17-year-old goalkeeper Logan Owen-Willams, who excelled in the 90 minutes before producing two penalty stops to deny the visitors a shock victory.

Welfare set the tone from the outset with their robust approach but their footballing ability belied their lower tier status and more than matched Athletic who were forced to work overtime throughout this cup match.

A fast break on the left saw the Welfare side break the deadlock with a deflected goal in the 15th minute.

The visitors’ goalmouth lived dangerously with Hamad Ali, Kane Whitaker, Kieran Young and Banta Darbou all foiled by the compact rearguard and when this was breached, Welfare goalkeeper Masion Jarrett came to his side’s rescue time and time again.

At the other end, Welfare were a constant threat with their fast counter-breaks with raids on either flanks as the home side struggled to get a good foothold in the game.

However, a period purple patch saw Athletic force the visitors to defend in numbers for long periods before they struck a well deserved equaliser when Kane Whitaker drove through midfield from defence before releasing Hamad Ali who rolled his marker before slotting the ball home on the turn.

The second half proved to be a ding-dong affair akin to a rugby game with neither side gaining control.

Welfare nudged 2-1 ahead on the hour mark with a break on the right finished off in clinical fashion.

Athletic forced the play and pushed players forward in numbers at every opportunity, forcing the visitors to defend gallantly and resort to long clearances anywhere as they tried to stem the hosts flow of attacks.

However, the home side drew level in the 73rd minute with a spot-kick goal from Danny Jones following a handball in the box.

The home side looked most likely to find a winner in the late stages of the game as the visitors held on gallantly to force the game into a penalty shoot-out.

Drama continued with both the normally reliable Danny Jones and Hamad Ali failing to find the target from the spot. But with their teammates Kieran Young, Banta Darbou and Kane Whitaker netting following two saves from keeper Owen-Williams it was Athletic going into round two to face Junk Old Boys away in Kirkburton.

The Howdens man of the match award was shared by Owen-Williams, Kieran Young and Joe Dack.

Due to administrative errors, Wakefield Athletic A not only found themselves in the wrong kit but also without a referee for their Wakefield Sunday Premiership Two game against Graziers, which they edged 3-2 at their West Yorkshire Sports & Social Club venue.

With no option other options than to referee the game themselves in line with the Standard Code of Rules, the A team manager Chris Connolly drew the short straw and ended up having to be in charge of the whistle for 90 minutes minus his touchline role – grassroots football adapting at its best.

With the kick-off slightly delayed, honours were even in terms of possession for the opening 20 minutes with neither side creating any chances of note until Athletic made the most of their first goal-scoring opportunity when stand-in striker David Mitchell rifled in a well-struck shot into the bottom left corner.

This goal clearly lifted Athletic and they continued to play good football and created further chances before captain Dalton Holford finished off a quality move following a well placed cross from the ever-industrious Matt Orme.

Athletic could have been out of sight by half time, but a combination of poor finishing and Rich Normington rattling the crossbar with a powerful header meant they went into half-time with a two-goal cushion.

Graziers came out in the second half looking to make amends for the first 45 and Athletic were slow to get out of the blocks until Mitchell made it 3-0 with a carbon copy of his goal in the first half.

Athletic made some changes and also took their foot off the gas leading to Graziers enjoying long spells of possession. Athletic kept them at bay until Ryan Wilby used his strength to shrug off his marker and fire home an unstoppable left footed effort to make it 3-1.

With Graziers buoyed by the goal, they continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and Mehr Hussein snuck in at the near post to place a nice first-time finish past Will Rushforth in the Athletic goal - in fairness another referee would likely have given Hussein offside.

Athletic then decided to step it up a gear and should have been awarded a penalty in the final few minutes when captain Dalton was brought down from behind by the Graziers keeper – again another referee would likely have given a penalty.

As the final whistle blew, Athletic were deserved winners and Chris Connolly has retired from the refereeing game.

The On The Track man of the match award was shared by Matt Candlin, Lee Mulligan and Mitchell.

Wakefield Athletic B were unable to keep Premiership One outfit Nostell MW at bay, despite surging into a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes as they lost their second round Landlords Trophy tie 8-2.

Attacking midfielder Matty Wootton opened the scoring, smashing home a powerful drive from 12 yards out to shock the top tier outfit.

Two minutes later Wootton pinged out a 50-yard pass to Jacob Laskowski, who ran into the box and finished with a well placed shot into the left corner to make it 2-0.

Athletic had a chance to make it 3-0 after Wootton audaciously attempted to chip keeper George Bason, only to see it marginally float above the crossbar.

But they suffered a jolt when forced into a change after 20 minutes with Laskowski going off with a groin injury.

The experience Nostell outfit recovered their composure before scoring twice in this period and a further two were added towards the end of the first half to make it 4-2.

In the second half Nostell pushed their full-backs forward to create overlapping problems for the Athletic side.

Further injuries saw defender Damion French forced to leave the pitch and the lack of options from the bench saw Athletic drained of energy in the final 25 minutes.

Following the game, Athletic manage, Jonny Wootton, said: “My over-riding feeling is pride.

“We had at least six very good goal-scoring opportunities and the game was very tight for at least 60 minutes.

“Before the game I asked each player to finish the game knowing that they had done their absolute best and I believe this was the case today.”

On target for Nostell MW were Dillon Connelly (three), Liam Peacock (two). Tom Robinson, Harry Chapman and Faruk Okundaye.

The Waites man of the match award for Wakefield Athletic B was shared by Wootton, Musa Kabba and Aaron Dooley.