Wolves 0 Blackburn 2 (Boggan 75, 90+2)
Wolves under-21s fell to an unfortunate home defeat to Blackburn under-21s on Monday evening.
After Alfie Pond received a red card 26 minutes into the contest, Wolves were forced to play over two thirds of the 90 minutes with a player less.
Despite the battling performance by Wolves, Blackburn eventually made use of the numerical advantage as Joseph Boggan’s second-half brace was enough to earn the visitors all three points.
James Collins’ side set the tempo from the outset with a persistently effective press, forcing errors in the Blackburn defence, but it took time for the chances to come.
Tom Edozie registered the first two attempts for Wolves within the space of a minute. First, he picked up a loose ball forced by the functioning press and drove towards goal, he pulled the trigger just outside the penalty area, but his effort was inches wide of the post.
Moments later, Edozie worked the ball down the left flank to a marauding Ethan Sutherland, he delivered a typical early ball looking for Dani Angel inside the penalty box. The ball was cleared only as far as Edozie, but his follow-up effort was blocked and cleared to safety.
Before Wolves could push on after the bright start, Pond received a straight red card on 26 minutes for a challenge on Blackburn’s James Edmondson, reducing the hosts to 10 players.
The dismissal inevitably altered the complexion of the game, as Blackburn began to enjoy more of the ball unlike the opening stages. Wolves replied well as they shifted to a back four and looked defensively sound through to half time.
The visitors did go close through Edmondson when he cut infield onto his left foot, before striking an ambitious looping effort that troubled Josh Gracey, but the Wolves keeper watched it safely out for a goal kick.
With seconds of injury time remaining, the returning Fletcher Holman called Nikas Michalski into action with a fierce shot on goal, but the Rovers keeper did well to turn the shot to safety.
Half-time | Wolves 0-0 Blackburn
The disadvantaged Wolves side restricted their opponents to minimal opportunities to take the lead within the opening stages of the second period, as Collins would have been happy with his team’s response to being reduced to 10 men.
Gracey was called into action for the first time in the second half when Edmondson played a neat ball through to Boggan, now just outside the six-yard-box, but Gracey did an excellent job of stopping the attack as he smothered the dangerous cross-shot.
After defending well and staying in the game, Wolves remained a threat, building momentum and knocking on the door with more intent. Justin Hubner had two opportunities to break the deadlock.
Firstly, he met a free-kick delivery at the back post, controlled the ball, and fired a shot at goal, but his close-range effort was blocked by George Pratt. Minutes later, Hubner timed his leap perfectly to meet Edozie’s corner, but Michalski was behind it.
Despite the shift of momentum in Wolves’ favour, Blackburn finally capitalised on the numerical advantage and opened the scoring in the 75th minute. Aodhan Doherty fizzed a ball across the penalty area where Boggan was waiting to control and finish neatly past Gracey.
Wolves failed to respond after conceding, and few chances were created between the goal and the full-time whistle. Instead, it was the visitors who scored in added time to put the game to bed.
The goal mirrored the first as Doherty once again provided the assist for Boggan. Doherty drove forward and played Boggan through one-on-one, and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
Despite a valiant effort from the young Wolves side, they were left to rue missed opportunities, with a chance to respond away at Stoke City on Friday evening.
Full-time | Wolves 0-2 Blackburn
LINEUPS
Wolves | Gracey, Okoduwa, Hubner, Meupiyou, Pond, Bradbury, Edozie, Ashworth (Mabete 86), Angel (Lopes 74), Holman, Sutherland.
Subs not used | Keto-Diyawa, Whittingham, Voice.
Blackburn | Michalski, R.Doherty (Potter 46), Pates, Pratt, Atcheson (A. Doherty 14), Dunn, Dlamini (Tyjon 62), O’Grady-Macken, Boggan, Edmondson, Stritch (Farkas 76).
Subs not used | Khan.
Report by Callum Greybanks
