Louie Lefevre brings us the latest from Wolves U18s midweek match against Aston Villa and players departing on loan deals.
Aston Villa U18s 0 – 0 Wolves U18s – Bodymoor Heath, Tuesday 27th August
Aston Villa XI: Proctor, McWilliams, Asante-Boakye, Carroll, Fortes, Quinn, Burgess, Lynskey (61), Burrowes (61), Hayward (86), Briscoe
Subs: Allan, Moreland, Bloomfield (86), Mulley (61), Brannigan (61)
Wolves XI: Gracey, White, Patterson, Ruddock, Osifo, Bradbury, Colesby (61), Nyakudya, McLeod, Ballard-Matthews (82), Mane
Subs: Hardy, Gidaree, Dayman, Marwa (61), Ji (82)
Wolves U18 were in midweek action on Tuesday afternoon, facing Aston Villa in their first game of the Premier League Cup. Wolves enjoyed a thrilling 7 goal opening game three days prior while Aston Villa shared the points with Norwich in a 1-1 draw.
Highly rated Keilan Quinn received the ball from a corner but was denied by Josh Gracey while Wales U17 international Makenzie Bradbury came close for Wolves, Villa keeper Sam Proctor doing well to deny him. A quiet and cagey first half saw limited opportunities for both teams, Elijah Briscoe’s header was comfortably received by Gracey in the Wolves net.
The second-half was as eventful as the first. A succession of free-kicks for Aston Villa ten minutes in were the pick of the chances, Vinnie Hayward blazed his over the bar and Alfie Lynskey did the same shortly after. A speculative effort from Matheus Mane came close for Wolves with 15 to go, but he was unable to find the goal to separate the two sides. Neither team could break the deadlock and the two teams were forced to take a point each from the opening group game.
One of the more forgettable Midlands derby clashes here, but Wolves can be happy with a point away to a tough Aston Villa side. In particular, Josh Gracey played his part to make sure he got the clean sheet, he narrowly missed out on against Blackburn. Josh arrived from Glenavon in the summer and the Northern Irish shot-stopper has had a very good start to life at Compton and he’ll hope to keep this form running when Wolves U18s go again this weekend in league action against Middlesbrough. The Boro are also in Premier League Cup group E with Wolves and Villa but lost to Fulham in their opening game. Fulham currently sit top of the group while Wolves are in third and will meet Fulham on the 5th October at Compton.
Three depart on loan:
A trio of Wolves academy players have departed to join EFL sides for the season. Tawanda Chirewa will get his first career loan move to Derby County in the championship. Chirewa joined Wolves in September of 2023 and soon broke into the first team with his impressive performances for the U21s. Chirewa made his debut away at Brentford in January this year and went on to make 10 appearances last season with 2 caps for the Zimbabwe national team. Derby were promoted from League One last season and will be looking for survival in England’s second tier. A team looking to get out of League One at the first time of asking will be Huddersfield Town who were relegated from the Championship in 23rd place. The Terriers recently secured the signing of Wolves duo Joe Hodge and Nigel Lonwijk. Lonwijk finished last season with Wycombe Wanderers and the centre back will now embark on his 5th loan away from Wolves. The dutchman also signed a new contract before his move. He’ll be joined at the John Smith’s stadium by Joe Hodge. The Republic of Ireland U21 midfielder will add to his first team experience following a mixed spell with QPR last campaign. Hodge will be looking to impress in order to return to Molineux and add to his 13 first-team appearances.
Academy involvement against Burnley:
Academy midfielder Luke Rawlings had an active start to his season, starting both of Wolves U21s first two PL2 games and now being named among the substitutes for the first-team in their 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Burnley. Rawlings’ involvement doesn’t come as much of a surprise after Gary O’Neil included him in his team for the pre-season trip to America where he would play 12 minutes in the Stateside Cup fixture with West Ham United. Rawlings will have to wait for his debut as he did not make it off the bench against Burnley but being named in the squad for a competitive fixture is a step in the right direction for the youngster. Lewys Benjamin was also warming-up with the goalkeepers on Wednesday but was not included on the bench with Rawlings. Both will have gained a lot from being amongst the first-team and will hope plenty more opportunities await them in the near future.
