Wolves Under-18s earned a comfortable victory against Nottingham Forest to make it four wins from five in the U18 Premier League.
The Old Gold were on the front foot from the start and scored twice within the first 15 minutes to take the game away from Nottingham Forest.
A stunning individual strike from Emilio Ballard-Mathews and a Conor McLeod tap-in set them on their way to the dispatching of the Tricky Trees.
Even assistant and former Cheltenham Town trialist James McPike was surprised with the quick start that the away side made.
“It’s always strange when you don’t plan to go two-nil up immediately, so it’s always a bit of a tricky one to navigate, to keep the momentum. But I think the boys weathered that little period well and kept the intensity at a high level overall.”
Forest pulled a goal back through Taeneal Brandy after he tapped in a low cross from Alfie Bradshaw to reduce the arrears, but Wolves weathered away any potential threat and were the more threatening side and nearly made it three before the half-time whistle.
Wolves came out for the second like they did the first by flying out the traps and, within eight minutes, looked to have settled the contest.
Mattheus Mane, who got the assist for the second, turned from provider into scorer by scoring his third after captain Makenzie Bradbury picked him out, having won the ball after pressing and harrying the Forest defence.
It was a common theme for the Wolves’ goals, looking to win the ball high up and counter with pace, adding the telling touch when it mattered.
“I think we’d like to think of ourselves as a really aggressive, high-pressing team. I think that’s part of our identity.
“Today, we allowed a bit more of a first pass before we went, which caused them a lot of problems and probably increased our regains high up in their third of the pitch. It’s definitely something we want to be known for.”
Just over 15 minutes from time, captain Bradbury added the away side’s fourth and added some gloss to what had been an exceptional performance to continue their strong start to the Premier League U18 North season.
Mane, who had been impressive throughout, nearly made it five from a sensational free-kick, but Keehan Willows denied him with a fantastic save.
Despite the comfortable nature of the victory, 36-year-old McPike still believes that the U18s can do more and win by an even greater scoreline.
Four wins from five in the #U18PL 📈 pic.twitter.com/QuSmo7NDX1
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 19, 2024
“I still think we can be more clinical in front of goal, even though we scored four today, and that’s just a credit to the quality of the players and the chances we’re creating.
“We’ve just got to be a little bit more ruthless in the box because the lads are good enough to do that.”
Wolves are back at home on Saturday as they play host to Stoke City at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground, and they know that they must be at their best to defeat the Potters, who currently sit 8th in the table.
Currently sat fourth in the table, they sit just one point behind Manchester City with a game in hand, and they will be hoping that they continue on a run of form that sees them looking up towards the top.
“We want to continue to improve in both boxes and be more ruthless.
“Stoke are going to be really competitive, really well organised, and it will be a challenging game, so the same intensity is required, the same bravery to get on the ball and just being more ruthless in the box with the chances we created.”
