Hounslow Wolves v Hayes Town

28th November 2021

Hounslow Wolves 4-0 Hayes Town

Starting XI: Raul, Rose, Sergio, Vik, Omar, Abdali, Sanjit, Liam, Tamim, A. Abdula, Rudy

Subs: Taylor, Bhullar, Bilal

After last weeks fixture what felt like a defeat and 2 points dropped, the Wolves turned their attention to Hayes Town, who found themselves near the bottom of the league. Wolves knew this was an opportunity to get back to winning ways and put things right from last week. A win for the Wolves would see them top with a game in hand. Changes to the team saw Bilal return from injury, Bhullar get the call up and Rudy makes his first start of the season.

The Wolves returned to fortress Cranford on a cold frosty morning, with Storm Arwen lingering around and temperatures maxing out at 2°C, playing conditions were less than ideal, turning up to the first frozen pitch of the year (the first of many I suspect). The warmup was led by newly appointed 1st team coach Jat, who got the boys mentally and physically prepared from the start with quotes and lunges flying around as we approached the kick-off whistle. Gaffer Rishi opted for the same system again 4-3-3. With kick off around the corner, the gaffer asked for a response from last week, win the game playing the football we know, spreading wide and giving no opposition no time in the middle of the park. With the game underway and the fans pouring in, both teams started lethargically, with the Wolves having the lion share of possession but unable to amount to anything with it. It took 20 minutes for the Wolves to break the deadlock, as Liam found Abdula in space out wide who whipped a first-time ball in, pinballed of a defender and fell to Sanjit who smashed home first time to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Well-deserved and the Wolves quickly realised they just needed to slow down the play and pick there passes in order to penetrate the high line of Hayes town. With half time looming the Wolves kept pressing into the opposition’s box and finally got their reward, with intricate play in the middle from Sanjit, Liam and Abdali to beat the Hayes town press, Sanjit found Tamim out wide, who had everybody on skates, whipped a first-time ball into Rudy who took a touch and finished on the half volley, a goal the gaffer will be proud off. 2-0. And the half time whistle went. One thing to mention was how comfortable the back 4 was playing out the back, and not allowing any shots to be taken at young GK Raul.

At the half time team talk, the gaffer was impressed with the performance, but knew a two-goal lead is always dangerous, so instilled the need for goals to ensure last week wasn’t repeated. No changes to the team and it was a perfect opportunity for the lads to express themselves and get goals.

With the second half underway, the Wolves looked in control winning every second ball, and having the confidence to play out the back and keep the ball in large passages of play. Fair play to Hayes town who saw us run in behind so much in the first half and sat a bit deeper to invite us in, which kept us out for large periods of the second half. As the fans and backroom staff grew nervously in the game wanting the third, the gaffer made a change pulling off the skipper and replacing him with Taylor, which was short lived unfortunately due to the latter picking up an injury in the warmup. The Wolves kept knocking but couldn’t get their rewards which allowed Hayes town to gain some momentum, finally registering their first shot in the 70th, which was matched by Raul. Gaffer made a couple more changes, replacing Rudy and Tamim for Bhullar and Bilal, who both expressed their hunger for goals on more than one occasion to the fans. With that being said, the Wolves knew a two-goal lead was dangerous, and as Hayes started to press higher up the pitch to gain some success, this was shut down by Abdula doing the dog work he always does, finding Liam in the middle of the park and him in turn picking out Bhullar on the wing who carried the ball and dinked the keeper with a left foot finish. 3-0. The Wolves could breathe, now it was all about game management and a clean sheet which the Wolves had been working tirelessly for. As the ball was being played out the back, taking no chances, it was booted up top to the opposition keeper, who completely fluffed his lines and played Bilal in, who made no mistake slotting into an empty net, a poetic finish.4-0. But the Wolves weren’t done just yet. Abdula was hungry for a goal and found himself 1 on 1 with the keeper, who all game had been at sea, managed to pull of an unbelievable save with his trailing leg and keeping Abdula off the score sheet, the whistle blew, 4-0.

Big shout out to Abdali on his return from injury, with a seamless MOTM performance, winning every header and bossing the midfield. Also props to Hayes town, who had individually very skilled players, but didn’t amount to anything on the day. A massive shoutout to the the back four, who kept a clean sheet and looked in control for pretty much most of the game.

The Wolves move into league cup action next week in a quarter final against Rajput del Mundo, who we beat 11-0 at the start of the season, so we know they’ll be gunning to put a performance in. The search for silverware is here!

MOTM: A.Abdali