U21 report | Wolves 4-1 Tottenham

Wolves 4 (Roberts 5, Pond 9, 13, Hodnett 34) Tottenham 1 (Williams 45+1)

Wolves under-21s returned to winning ways in PL2 after a comprehensive victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the New Bucks Head.

Four goals inside the opening 34 minutes sent all three points the way of Ian Sharps and his side, with Tyler Roberts, Alfie Pond (2) and Jack Hodnett all finding themselves amongst the goals in what was a ruthless showing.

Wolves made a lightning start to proceedings and were ahead with just five minutes on the clock. Roberts made inroads from the right and navigated his way into the box with a weaving run, before firing low into the far corner.

Tyler Roberts firing us in front ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/pjHjKHqqRe

— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 15, 2022

The lead was doubled four minutes later, with Pond scoring his first goal in the old gold after heading home from a Hodnett free-kick, nipping in there just ahead of goalkeeper Josh Keeley.

The home side were in dreamland when they made it three on the 13-minute mark and it was Pond again who was on the spot to double his tally. After a well-worked short corner, Lee Harkin pulled away to the edge of the area where the attacker received the ball and forced Keeley to parry as it popped up nicely for Pond to rise above his marker and nod into the net.

A second headed goal for Alfie Pond pic.twitter.com/PRsolndnRZ

— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 15, 2022

Spurs came close to pulling one back when Pond was dispossessed in his own half, before breathing a sigh of relief when the ball flashed across the face of goal and away to safety.

Having already claimed an assist earlier in the game, Hodnett got in on the goalscoring act on 34 minutes. After finding space inside the penalty area, he opened up his body and side-footed a delicious effort around the defender and into the far corner.

The visitors reduced the deficit to three when Jaden Williams scored in the first minute of added time. Jackson Smith pulled off an impressive diving save to deny Max Robson, before the ball dropped to the feet of Williams who, despite the best efforts of Kam Kandola, just about squeezed his follow-up over the line.

Half-time | Wolves 4-1 Tottenham

Tottenham made a double change at the break in the hope of swaying some of the momentum in their favour.

Harvey Griffiths had a comfortable effort saved from the edge of the box seven minutes into the second 45, as Wolves were eyeing a fifth.

And the youngsters came close to number five when Harkin released Nathan Fraser down the left-hand side. The striker did well to hold the ball up before advancing into the penalty area and laying it off to Hodnett who had the awareness to spot Roberts making tracks, as the winger saw a deflected low drive travel inches wide.

Spurs were presented with the opportunity to grab another one back from the spot when Kandola pulled down substitute Romaine Mundle inside the area. After winning the penalty, Mundle stepped up and smashed his attempt from 12 yards off the crossbar as Wolves survived.

➕3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/xg43iJpBkv

— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) October 15, 2022

Roberts was electric throughout and it was his run down the wing that forced a corner out of Spurs. And from the resulting set-piece, Griffiths rose highest to head downwards towards goal before Keeley dived across to save.

Striker Leon Chiwome wore the gloves for the final couple of minutes after coming off the bench to replace Smith who had gone down with an injury. However, by that point, all three points were safely in the bag after a stellar performance from the home side.

Full-time | Wolves 4-1 Tottenham

COMING UP

The 21s play their final group stage fixture of this season’s Papa John’s Trophy at Port Vale on Tuesday evening, having already secured qualification to the knockout stages.

NEXT FIVE

• 18/10 Port Vale (A) PJT
• 22/10 Man Utd (A)
• 31/10 Leicester (H)
• 07/11 West Ham (A)
• 14/11 Sunderland (H)

TEAMS

Wolves | Smith (Chiwome 90+7), Birtwistle, Lembikisa, Tipton, Kandola, Pond, Roberts, Griffiths, Fraser, Hodnett (Farmer 72), Harkin (Keto-Diyawa 80).

Unused subs | Matheson, Ojinnaka.

Tottenham | Keeley, Muir, Abbott, Fagan-Walcott (Lyons-Foster 46), Dorrington, Craig, Robson (Mundle 62), White, Alonso, Ajayi (John 62), Williams (Lankshear 46).

Unused subs | Maguire.