The Boomers were without Jesse Halford, Owen Gibson and Raiko Shareef for this game but welcomed in John Huss Mortimer and Alie Novak for their first appearances of the season. Stokes Valley contain several goalscoring threats and the loss of defensive rock Halford would surely hurt the Boomers.
The Boomers went for a four-four-two formation for the first time this season with Handley dropping to centre back to cover for the missing Halford. Bascand got the nod in goal ahead of Drew Delany who was unlucky not to retain the gloves after a magnificent performance last week against the University Accies. McSweeny was the other centre back while Sammy Clark and Cam Holm completed the back four.
Tadhg Delany was removed from the playground that is playing in the whole and was asked to knuckle down in the centre of the park with engine-room Alex Rothman. Today Ollie Carr took up a spot on the left wing after a good shift against the Accies, but he is likely to face competition for the spot if John Huss Mortimer can turn up to more games. Although it's rare for the Boomers to have two players with that level of fitness fighting for one position, it sets the bar for the team and no Boomers player dare lower their intensity, in fear of losing their spot. Jess Strafford was wide on the right while Abraham and Jones double-barrelled up top.
The game started with both teams committing to tackles at a high intensity. The Boomers have kept no secrets about their particular hatred towards Stokes Valley. The Boomers first chance fell to Darryl Jones who half-volleyed a shot that was saved by the keeper. The game continued on as both sides exchanged blows. It appeared Stokes had a bit more dominance on the ball and had better opportunities going forward during the first half. When a Boomers clearance went a wry, a Stokes Valley player was in a fortunate position to pick the ball up unmarked in the box with just Bascand to beat. A good save from Bascand led to a comedy of deflections falling to another fortunately placed Stokes Valley player to tap home. It was an unlucky goal to concede and the feeling it was the kind of goal that decided gritty fixtures like this began to dwell on the Boomers.
The Boomers pressed with nothing but long shots for the rest of the half. During the break the Boomers pointed out key issues but mainly it was about keeping the ball and not panicking when in possession. The Boomers missed their chance to come out and try and set a precedent from the beginning of the first half and in hindsight this was a huge moment in the game. The longer the half pressed on the less it looked like the Boomers could equilise let alone bag the three points. Some notable Boomers performances were Jesse Strafford who tackled hard and got involved in some good play down the right. The ever tackling Alex Handley was superb at the back but his ball winning and distribution skills were missed in the midfield. Tadhg and Rothman played well in bursts for the Boomers but failed to control the midfield enough to then create real goalscoring chances.
Michael Candy came on for Sammy Clark, Huss for Ollie and Alie Novak made his debut coming on for Abraham. Within moments of coming on, Novak was presented with a golden opportunity to equilise but scuffed the moment. More long shots ensued with no result, and following some nervous meddling on the ball at the back the Boomers were lucky it only ended 1-0. A special note for Drew Delany, who despite last weeks heroics and a show at training didn't get on the field. Jesse Strafford had clearly planned for Delany's back up vocals in She Drives Me Crazy later that night and didn't want anything bad happening to him.
A great man once said "You have to beat Mince." After denying a goal to the Mince, Stokes Valley left Wakefield knowing that theory was very much the truth.
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