Rec fell foul to Wakefield's proficiency in possession, beaten 4-0 at
The Millenium Stadium in the NCEL Division One.
Callum Brooks’ opener on eight minutes was the only
difference between the sides at the break before Akeel Francis, Kenan McKenzie-Gray
and Muhamet Gashi completed the scoring after the restart.
Leighton Sawyer made his debut from the start, Josh Berry in
on the opposite side of Rec’s defence. Charlie Auty and Nicholas Lalousis
completed the changes from last week’s trip to Swallownest.
Sam Thompson, leading the line, was first to the ball behind
Wakefield’s back-four, attacking the left-channel with an immediate indication
of how Rec were going to be successful in their play.
Akeel Francis as the opposite nine met a bouncing ball with
his head, ahead of Rec’s challenge, to nudge it wide-right into Jacques Etia.
He couldn’t round Berry and whilst being forced back, the ball was moved
central where Scott Smith was unable to hit the target with his opening effort
from range.
The second chance paid dividends on eight minutes through
Callum Brooks, inverted. He was free, inside from his wide-left starting
position, which gave him the space to find the bottom, left-hand corner from
outside the box.
Rec had posed a threat in the opening twenty minutes through
directness. Harrison Landon, from midway into Wakefield’s half, almost caught
out Wakefield ‘keeper Owen Evans who got a hand to push the ball away from his near,
top corner.
Francis, now deeper and slightly left of centre, was set up
nice for a right-footed shot toward the far post. Ellis Pickard was equal to it
but couldn’t hold, Sandhu following in with a first-time strike, blocked by the
‘keeper closing down the distance between himself and striker.
Sawyer advanced from his right-back base, into the hosts’
half and infield but was denied a route to goal through the middle. Kenan
McKenzie-Gray copied the move on the opposite wing for the hosts, running onto
a loose ball 25-yards out on his left foot, straight into Pickard’s grasp, the score
held at 1-0 at the break.
For all his link-up play previously, Francis finished off
Wakefield’s second on fifty-two minutes. He was stood just yards out from the
face of goal, fortunately placed to put in on the rebound after Gashi’s initial
shot was saved.
It’s a similar story down the left for the third. This time the
pass was rolled along the edge of the box where McKenzie-Gray could run onto
the loose ball and place an effort, first-time, back across goal and in.
A good spell of patient possession for Rec saw the ball eventually
land at substitute Nathan Perks on the edge of the box. With no route through,
he returned the ball wide-right to Thompson before retreating into the box for
the delivery, which shortly followed and found a way to Perks at the far post.
His chest control teed up the volley which was deflected behind.
Gashi completed the scoring with arguably the strike of the
evening. Wide on the right, he missed out those in the box and instead found
the far top corner.
Pickard met Brooks’ effort towards the ‘keeper’s top corner,
palming away and able to smother the loose ball. Brooks had looked to go between
Rec’s defence but was denied, the ball stuck with him however, his plan B to
try from distance which Rec’s number one dealt with, keeping the deficit at
four into full-time.
A week’s rest is to follow before Rec return to Sheerien Park
on Saturday for the first time in four fixtures when Wombwell Town visit.
