Hounslow Wolves v Heathrow Club

31st October 2021

Hounslow Wolves 1-2 Heathrow Club

Starting XI: Raul, Rohan, Vik, Sergio, Adam P, Abdali, Liam, Abdulmajid, Tamim, Bilal, Abdula

Subs: Nikhil V, Ish

After successfully progressing through the FA Junior cup 1st round a fortnight ago, the Wolves turned their attention to the league, looking to return to the summit of Div 2. With four key changes required to the starting XI, in addition to the torrential rain, the Wolves knew they were in for a tough 90 minutes particularly against the league leaders Heathrow Club.

With the team talk done, manager Rishi elected to go with the trusted 4-3-3 formation which had proved to be very successful over the past few months with the leagues deadliest strike force of Tamim, Bilal and Abdula on show.

The Wolves have been fantastic all season with the electrifying fast starts becoming a game day tradition. It was clear to see from minute one that this was going to be a very different game. Heathrow Club came out of the blocks flying and applied the pressure almost immediately with both a high tempo and high press. The Wolves were trapped for the first 20 minutes and struggled to find any real control in the middle of the park. The back four of Rohan, Vik, Sergio and Adam were excellent in denying the waves of attacks that came from Heathrow. Some excellent saves from Raul ensured the Wolves kept the game goalless for the majority of the half. The two key Wolves chances of the half fell to the Leagues top goal scorer Bilal who was unable to capitalise on the golden opportunities. A slight tactical change of shifting Abdulmajid into CDM next to Abdali was made to try finish the half goalless. However in the 37th minute a lapse in concentration from the Wolves saw Heathrow take a deserved lead going into the half time break. It was clear to see from all the coaches and spectators, something was wrong with the Wolves and something needed to change.

The team talk was clear. The players all knew they were not performing to their usual high standards and each player committed to raising both the quality and intensity of their own individual games. The second half started much better with Abdali, Liam and Abdulmajid beginning to show their presence in midfield. The contrast in the how the Wolves started both halves was clear for everyone to see and it took just 15 minutes to be rewarded. A ball from Rohan into the right hand channel saw Bilal latch on and drive into the box. His low cross into the box was inadvertently turned in by the opposition. 1-1. Game on. The Wolves continued to show their increased dominance in midfield marshalled by the excelled Abdali. Tamim and Abdula were finally receiving the ball in threatening areas and a goal seemed imminent. However, after a succession of mistakes from the Wolves, a Heathrow player was able to win the ball high up the pitch and a simple cross into the box was met by a Heathrow forward. 1-2. Things went from bad to worse when top goal scorer Bilal pulled his hamstring and was forced to come off. With 20 minutes left to go, Nikhil V and Ish were brought on to try and bolster the attack however Heathrow remained resilient closing out the game and extending their lead at the top of the table.

The result leaves the Wolves in 3rd place, 4 points off the top with two games in hand. The Wolves will only have themselves to blame for the loss after a poor first half display but certainly a lot of lessons have been learnt.

We will look to bounce back next week against a well established AFC Heathrow side.

Goal scorers: Own goal

MOTM: Abdali