Notts County development squad were beaten 4-1 by a strong Wolverhampton Wanderers XI on Tuesday afternoon.
The Magpies’ starting-11 included three youth team players – Kieran Geldenhuys, Brad McGowan and Tyler Guy – all of them defenders. The likes of regulars Romello Nangle, Curtis Thompson, Greg Tempest, Jordan Holt and Adam Coombes were also unavailable for selection on the day.
In contrast, the Wolves line-up consisted of numerous senior players. The likes of Dave Edwards, Jake Cassidy and Bakary Sako all featured and played a big part in the victory.
The hosts got off to good start when frontman David Moli slotted home at close range. The lead did not last long, as the Magpies were quick to level.
Malcolm Melvin was upended inside the box and dusted himself off to take the penalty. The industrious midfielder sent the home goalkeeper the wrong way with well-taken penalty into the bottom-left corner.
Wolves soon restored their lead through Cassidy, who rifled unstoppably inside the left-hand post from the edge of the box. The striker then pounced again with a rebound finish, after Fabian Spiess, who was in fine form throughout, had produced an outstanding reaction parry to keep out Moli’s downward header.
Cassidy’s second prompted protests from the County defenders, as they felt that the former Tranmere loanee had been stood in an offside position. But, the goal stood and Notts went into the break 3-1 down.
Another player with first team experience, Zeli Ismail, completed the scoring in the second period with a placed penalty, after Edwards had been tripped inside the box. Despite the scoreline, there were plenty of positives to take from the game, particularly the way that the squad’s younger players coped against Wolves' experienced professionals.
STARTING XI: Spiess, Geldenhuys, Bennett, McGowan, Guy, Balmy, Dixon, Melvin, Waite, Murray, Haworth.
SUBS FROM: Lavelle-Moore, Hodge, Golding.
Look out for match highlights on Magpie Player and reaction on the official site soon.