Hounslow Wolves v Osterley
6th December 2020
Wolves 3-2 Osterley
Starting XI: Andy, Adam, Jat, Sergio, Rahul, Sanjit, Arun, Ranveer, Dylan, Gurjit, Bilal
Subs: Rohan, Nikhil, Sameer, Bhullar
A frosty and wet Sunday morning staged the return of Sunday League football for the Wolves against a very talented and skilful Osterley side. Despite both teams not being able to train or play for a month, it was clear to see Osterley were the much sharper side. Some very impressive link up play from Osterley saw their forwards carve out a number of opportunities in the early exchanges. Defenders Jat and Sergio, who have formed an excellent partnership in recent weeks, were at their resilient best denying everything the Osterley attack could throw at them.
It took until the 11th minute for Wolves to launch their first attack on the Osterley goal. Some fantastic interlinking play from Sanjit, Ranveer and Dylan saw a ball put through to Bilal and, with only the keeper to beat, was denied by an offside call. Despite a handful of half chances for Wolves, Osterley dominated the first half creating a number of opportunities. It did however take until the 28th minute for Osterley to make the break through. A quick counter attack, that started in the Osterley half, was finished with precision by the Osterley forward making it 1-0 to the opposition. Despite being on the backfoot throughout the first half, Wolves refused to sink in. Forwards Bilal and Gurjit worked tirelessly chasing down second balls and contesting every single header that came in their radius. In the 37th minute, Wolves were rewarded for their resilience. Some intricate passing in the Osterley half saw the ball eventually drop to Dylan who launched a magnificent 25 yard half volley into the Osterley net. Wolves saw the half out with the scores tied at 1-1.
Despite only drawing, it was clear changes needed to be made at half time. Manager Rishi changed the formation from the trusted diamond midfield into a 4-2-3-1 with Sanjit and Arun now playing as a double pivot. Wolves started the second half very brightly winning every 50/50 that was on offer. Dylan continued to show his brilliance linking up the play from defence into attack along with the energetic support of Sameer and Bhullar either side. Full backs Adam and Rahul showed their dynamism by locking off their respective channels whilst also providing support to the midfield and forwards at every given opportunity. Wolves were rewarded for their bright start in the 69th minute (shoutout Gurjit). Bilal showed his class yet again with a quick change of pace in the Osterley penalty area resulting in the defender making a rash challenge inside the box. Bilal calmly slotted the ball into the keepers bottom left corner to make it 2-1 to the Wolves.
Wolves knew they would be under severe pressure in the remaining 20 minutes. Sanjit and Arun showed their intelligence by closing every gap between the defence and midfield limiting Osterley to a couple shots from outside the box. Jat and Sergio continued to marshal the defence with both full backs now tucked in to create a solid defensive block. The victory looked very much in sight until the 84th minute. A loose ball into defence saw Sergio slice the ball whilst trying to clear and resulted in the ball looping over a helpless Andy and into the Wolves net. The disappointment was clear to see on every Wolves players. A sucker punch.
A wise man once told me that there is nothing quite like the Wolves spirit, and in the closing stages of the game, that would come to fruition. In the 89th minute, a long throw into the box from Adam saw striker Gurjit win an initial header and put the ball on a plate for, you guessed it, Sergio who slotted the ball in to make it 3-2 causing absolute scenes on the pitch and touchline. After a telling off from the referee for the celebrations, wolves saw out the remaining couple minutes of the game to take home all 3 points.
Plenty of positives to take from the game but the character shown from the boys is something that can’t be taught on the training pitch. Some excellent performances all across the park with special shout outs to Rahul, Adam, Gurjit and Dylan. Wolves will also be boosted with the return of midfielders Justin and Tay to training in addition to a special guest appearance from Darren.
There is no game from Wolves this weekend with the final game of 2020 to take place on December 20th against AFC Heathrow.