Worksop Town 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday (U21s)

Worksop Town 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday (U21s)

Pre-Season Friendly

Tuesday 30th July 2024

This was a good night for Worksop Town as their experience, guile, know-how and physicality showed in this comfortable 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday’s U21s.

By no means are the Owls ‘light weights’ at U21 level. Several of their players stand at over 6ft and they’ve got more to them than other teams in the Professional Development League who they’ll face this season, but they simply couldn’t contain a Tigers team who were ruthless all over the pitch whether it be Luke Shiels and Hamza Bencherif who were dominant in defence and won everything, Tommy Taylor who was solid in goal to keep a clean-sheet, Vaughan Redford who bagged two goals and put a right shift in, Jordan Burrow who got one, Dan Bramall who always adds a touch of flair and a creative spark, or Luke Hall who ran himself into the ground and had a very good game against his old employers.

It was really comprehensive and dominant by Worksop and Wednesday's young lads will go away knowing they were in a right old battle but having learned so much, which is the most important thing they can take away from this experience.

After a delay to kick-off on the hottest day of the year so far, Worksop were aggressive in their approach early on as they got at Sheffield Wednesday and sought to make a breakthrough and after a couple of early openings, the goal finally arrived from the penalty spot on 15 minutes. Luke Hall was knocked over inside the box by Gabriel Otegbayo; it looked soft but there was contact and Redford dispatched the penalty.

Wednesday had flashes where they looked alright and had a couple of early openings including one where the trialist played a heavy pass back across goal into the path of Devlan Moses who couldn’t get it on target. 

And around the half-hour mark it was 2-0 to Worksop with the Tigers’ second goal coming as Vaughan Redford accelerated into space inside the box and eventually struck the ball past a grounded Jack Hall.

Wednesday’s best player in the U21s is usually Rio Shipston and whilst he was tidy in possession when he did have the ball (notably when he turned away from pressure on the edge of his own box very well at 0-0 in the early stages), the Owls struggled in general to get Shipston on the ball all that much which meant he couldn’t impact the game and became a bit frustrated with how things were going.

So instead, the Owls best player on the night was Bruno Fernandes and just before half-time he had a couple of involvements as the Wednesday sought to pull one back - the first being a good run and some jinking fleet-footed movement in which he caught a glimpse of goal and hit a thunderous shot against the upright and the second being where he jinked his way along the byline and pulled the ball back across goal but nobody was there to turn it home.

Wednesday lost Gui Siqueira to injury just before half-time and in the second half, the game continued along the same lines as to how the opening 45 minutes had panned out with Worksop on top, looking dominant, aggressive, and using their know-how and experience to really good effect.

Two more goals followed, both in pretty quick succession, either side of the hour mark.

Jordan Burrow headed home at the near-post to make it 3-0 (one of the simplest goals he’ll ever score as he was about two yards out when he powered home the header) with Luke Hall claiming the assis and then a couple of minutes later it was 4-0 as somebody in a Tigers shirt brilliantly turned and span away from Rio Shipston just inside the Owls half and played a pass to Dan Bramall who showed his composure with a classy finish.

Although Wednesday were well-beaten by now and it looked at this point they might concede a few more, they didn’t cave in and it remained 4-0. 

They hit the woodwork again as they sought to add a consolation, their pressing/effort was good with Tommy Taylor being forced to hurriedly clear the ball under pressure a few times, and in all honesty they probably deserved something to show for their efforts. But they just came up against a very good Worksop team who were strong in all areas and look as if they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with at Step 3 level this season.

Some Owls players did better than others, as you’d expect, but the one thing all the lads can take away from this game is they’ll be better players for this experience. The physicality, the intensity, the ‘in your face’ nature of the game, how tough it was at times - that’s how you learn, that’s how you get better and if everything was always rosy and smooth and easy, then there wouldn’t be any development happening. So they shouldn’t beat themselves up too much and just need to take this one on the chin.

The three best players in Wednesday shirts were probably Mackenzie Maltby (the best of all their defenders), Bruno Fernandes (direct and good with the ball at his feet) and Jay Buchan (impressive work-rate and energy which stands out a mile), whilst Jack Hall in goal had a decent enough game too (nothing he could do about any of the goals and his kicking was clean, distribution good and long, with his quick-releasing of the ball being a good tactic in helping to get his team up the pitch).

Mackenzie Maltby played out from the back a few times, relished the physicality and was also comfortable on the ball and bringing it out from the back. All positive traits and he’s going to be a good defender because he’s got so many good attributes for his age.

Jay Buchan showed a bite and tenacity which is needed in football so much (especially at non-league level) in his two periods of 30 minutes on the pitch and made a brilliant contribution in the first half where he nipped the ball off the toes of the Worksop attacker with a vital interception (showed his reading of the game) then less than 30 seconds later, he was pressing the Worksop ‘keeper trying to make something happen at the other end of the pitch. Top work, top application and he’s the type of lad who’ll run all day for you and put a shift in and that type of work doesn’t go unnoticed. 

And Bruno Fernandes was Wednesday’s best goal threat. Quick, nimble, slight in physique, and he showed good technique various times; reacting well to things inside the box and being a dangerous threat to the Worksop defence. The ball sticks to his feet reasonably well when he’s running at people and in the second half, he was also trying to make something happen by dropping back and making himself available for a pass to get on the ball. He’s at the younger end of the Owls’ U21s group but has bags of ability and I’m looking forward to watching him in the Professional Development League this season where I’ve got a feeling he’ll do well and get plenty of goals to show for his efforts. Can see it coming and I wouldn’t be surprised now if he ends up being Wednesday’s top talisman in 9-10 months time.

Overall, a worthwhile game to watch. Plenty learned (always the objective) and a good night out - if only the weather could stick around for a bit longer.