Wolverhampton Wanderers was crowned Premier League Next Generation Cup champion after a 5-4 penalty shootout win against Stellenbosch FC at the Reliance Corporate Park in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
The English club clinched the Reliance Foundation-sponsored title from defending champion Stellenbosch, as substitute Aaron Keto-Diyawada scored the decisive penalty against the South African side.
The game finished a laborious 1-1 draw at the end of regulation time, after a hot 70-minute affair during which the temperature reached 35 degree Celsius.
Although not dominant possession-wise in the first half, Wolves took the lead five minutes before halftime as Harvey Griffith kept knocking on the doors and finally headed a corner kick past a diving De Jean Ah-Shene. Wolves coach James Collins had underlined the importance of set-piece scenarios during training, and the hours spent on exercises had paid off.
“We’ve done well with set pieces all week long. We aren’t usually as good as this. But I have to say my assistant Sean helped me with training the boys with set-piece scenarios. It’s not the fun side of the game but set pieces eventually win you or lose your matches,” said Collins after the win.
Wolves were lethal not just in the summit clash, but throughout the tournament. The orange outfit scored 11 goals and conceded their first only in the final. “They (the players) were getting frustrated with me. I stressed that they’ve had an easy tournament and I knew Stellenbosch would pose a different threat in front of the goal. Their forward (van Wyk) was excellent throughout the tournament. We gave them possession more than what we normally do but we planned to attack on the counter and I’m glad that worked. Credits to our defenders and our keeper (Joe) Young.” added Collins.
The Stellies though, were clinical on the flanks, as most of their attacks came from either left or right. They started pressing from the first minute and registered their first shot on target within five minutes via a low shot by Ethan Felix, that the Wolves keeper Joe Young punched off without much trouble.
The South African side restored parity shortly after the game resumed after halftime as its star forward Antonio van Wyk, scored a stunner in the 47th minute. But in the end, it just wasn’t enough.
Stellenbosch coach Evangelos Vellios was all praise of the youngsters and said that despite not defending it title, it has so much to take away from the tournament. “We are a five-year-old club from South Africa. We are not going to let the penalty shootout mask what we’ve achieved here. It’s just unbelievable and we are so proud of what we’ve done” he said.
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