Hounslow Wolves XI v Heston Celtic

7th November 2021

Hounslow Wolves XI 3-0 Heston Celtic  

Starting XI: Kieran, Adam, Mo, Dabeer, Omar, Raj Hans, Ash, Gugs, Nikhil G, Anil, Harjoth,

Subs: Arun, Ranveer

A familiar foe for the XI this week, playing Heston Celtic for the 3rd time since the club was formed. With the score at 1 game a piece, this game was critical. Not only for bragging rights, but for morale and the league table. Wolves had to stop the rot, and despite the team that beat us 3-0 only a few months ago, confidence was yet again high. Despite Celtic doing all they could to disrupt the Wolves belief, the boys showed true class form the minute they arrived to the final whistle. A special mention too for Jatty who had to referee due to a county shortage.

Celtic are yet to lose this season, but the Wolves mentality will take something more than just a streak to defeat. Manager Deano reverted back to 4-4-2, the formation the team ended with last week against league leaders Willesden. Despite some exciting additions to the team, consistency and relationships was highlighted and the team set up as close to last week as possible leaving Arun and Ranveer on the bench.

Wolves started brightly, keeping the ball well and creating some half chances. For the first game all season, Wolves were on the front foot and would have had a 2 or 3 goal lead within 30 minutes if it wasn’t for some shoddy finishing and good keeping. Ash and Gugs would probably say they weren’t at their best, but still dominated the middle with Mo and Dabeer composed at the back. Keeper Keiren had nothing to do apart from some dodgy back passes from Omar. A relatively easy team talk at half time, reiterating  keep doing what we are doing and the goals will come. Too many times this season Wolves have dropped their heads and not stuck to the game plan. Today was different.

Half time changed the game with 2 crucial introductions. Ranveer came on for Harjoth, slotting in on the right hand side for such much needed speed and the returning Golden Boy of Wolves ( ourhelmet hero), Arun Garcha, slotted in at centre back for the injured Dabeer. Wolves looked composed and assured, and with some masterful balls from Arun, something we have been craving all season, goals were only a matter of time.

10 mins into the half, and Anil was put through much to the dismay of the Celtic back line. With no assistant referees provided by the away side, the referee had no choice but to allow the goal, putting Wolves 1 up. Excellent experience from Anil, knowing you don’t stop until the whistle, calmly going around the keeper and slotting home to give the Wolves XI their first ever league lead.

Unfortunately, Celtic decided the best idea from here was to abuse the referee and lunge in for some unsavoury tackles, but Wolves remained calm and continued to play exciting free flowing football. Ranveer grabbed 2 more dubious goals ( dubious because we aren’t sure if he meant either of them ), and Wolves took a 3-0 win despite the fact it could have been a lot more.

Result aside, what this does for the team is huge. Wolves have only the bottom sides left to play in the first half of the season, and the pride shown today was clear to see. Most teams could have gone down a level but they remained composed and only focused on football. There is definitely a need to continue attacking drills at training, and still with 5 or 6 players to return, today will definitely be seen as s turning point in the season.  A special mention to Mo, picking up MOTM for the game and hopefully being a pivotal cog in the Wolves journey for years to come.

We go again Sunday against Kensington Dragons

MOTM – Mo