Here is a list of the forthcoming events at AFC Wulfrunians and Old Wulfrunians Sports & Social Club

Tuesday 27th March 2012

SPORTSMAN’S EVENING WITH MATT JARVIS

Come and listen to Wolves and England winger Matt Jarvis and join in with a Q&A session

Tickets cost £10 and include a chip supper but are strictly limited and sold on a first come first served basis so book early to avoid disappointment.

The evening kicks off at 8pm

Friday 18th May 2012

OLD WULFRUNIANS BLACK & WHITE SUMMER BALL

IN AID OF PROMISE DREAMS

Set in a beautiful marquee on the grounds of Old Wulfrunians Club

Tickets cost £45 and include a fantastic three course meal and some quality live entertainment

Dress code – lounge suits and the action starts at 7.30pm ’til late

Friday 13th July 2012

AFC WULFRUNIANS ANNUAL GOLF DAY

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE JW HUNT CUP COMMITTEE

Play 18 holes at the superb Shifnal Golf Club, coffee and bacon sandwich on arrival and a three course meal in the evening

A team of four costs £250 and money will be raised for Beacon Centre for the Blind

It is a 2pm shotgun start

The opening 20 minutes saw both teams struggle to get a grip but it was the visitors created the game’s first chance when Danny Crudgington sidestepped his man and fired a low shot that was pushed wide by Dan Hollings.

Wulfs continued to press and broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when Chris Rabone glided past three men in the area before being brought down. Jake Sedgemore calmly dispatched the resulting penalty.

Kyle Brady headed wide and Grant Joshua dragged a shot wide as Wulfs continued to press up to the half time interval.

The second half started on similar fashion with Robin Sheffield, Joshua and Brady all going close before they extended their lead in the 53rd minute when Crudgington slid a pass through to Rabone and he fired past the keeper.

Bromyard enjoyed their first real spell of pressure and Chris Fower was twice denied, first by a good block by Tom Ray and then by an excellent save by Danny Tipton.

Knile Taylor then fired wide from a good position and Joe Wood struck a close range shot straight at Tipton as the home side continued to press.

Wulfs regained their grip of the game and Brady saw his shot tipped over the bar and Sheffield had a 30 yard daisy cutter tipped around the post.

Substitute Ricky Anslow then saw his effort pushed wide before Bromyard went back on the attack with George Coley squaring across goal just ahead of the onrushing Fower and Dale Goddard seeing his free kick tipped over by Tipton.

Wulfs finally killed the game off with a 3rd goal seven minutes from time. Anslow picked up a pass from Sedgemore before cutting inside and firing in via the far post for his 100th goal for the club.

Bromyard refused to give up and grabbed an injury time consolation when Ben Evans slid a good ball through to substitute Ashley Morris and he made no mistake to slot home.

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With a wind at their backs in the first half, it didn’t take Wulfs long to break the deadlock when in the 3rd minute Jake Webb pounced on some defensive hesitancy to nick the ball and fire low past keeper Harry Bennett.

Webb was causing the home defence all sorts of problems and almost added a second shortly after when he ran on to Harvey Pearson’s ball over the top only to be denied by the keeper’s foot.

Next the lively striker cut across the edge of the area before firing a shot off the outside of the far post and then delivered a good cross which Mike
Brookes headed well wide when he should have done better.

The second goal Wulfs’ dominance deserved finally came in the 19th minute. Charlie Turner did well down the right before squaring across the edge of the area for Liam Wilkinson to fire a first time dipping shot over the keeper and into the net.

Webb went close to adding to the lead when he raced on to a long kick from Chris Ryan and lobbed a shot over the keeper but, unfortunately, over the bar also.

Coleshill’s first attempt at goal came in the 28th minute when a ball into the area was headed out to Brady Byrne who hit a dipping shot that kicked up in front of keeper Ryan but he did well to get his body behind the ball to block.

Just one minute later Wulfs extended their lead. Jake Webb again breached the defence but this time he was forced wide by the keeper so crossed for Ryan Bright whose headed effort was blocked on the line but he followed up to fire home from close range.

Webb then exchanged passes with Jacob Craner from a short corner before delivering a dangerous ball into the area which keeper Bennett tipped against the inside of his far post.

In what was fast turning into a one man show, Webb then headed Bright’s near post cross wide before seeing his inswinging corner from the left cleared off the line at the far post. He then hit the woodwork for the third time when another dangerous ball into the area struck the outside of the far post.

The second half started well with Wulfs making it 4-0 just four minutes in. Craner was the supplier, beating the keeper to a through ball before crossing in for Turner to fire home.

Gradually the game became scrappy with the long lay off and heavy conditions starting to takes it’s toll although the back line of Ben Webb, Alex Haynes, Harvey Pearson and Benji Gutteridge continued to look solid.

Craner went close to increasing Wulfs’ lead in the 53rd minute when he turned and shot wide while, at the other end, Liam Pearson fired a 35 yard shot straight at Ryan.

Youngsters Dan Beese, Leigh Brindley and Jamie Allen were introduced as Wulfs closed out the game and the home side’s only real effort at goal came 6 minutes from time when Jonas Levine found substitute Ansuman Manneh and he sidestepped his marker before dragging his shot wide.

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A crowd of well over 500 packed into the Castlecroft ground and were treated to a largely entretaining game which only went ahead after the hard work of groundsmen Matt Clayton and Tom Nutting had cleared a harsh overnight frost.

The game itself was closely fought with plenty of chances at either end, the better of which fell to Engalnd.

In the opening half Andrew Venning twice forced impressive Australian keeper Luke Turnbull into making good saves, the first of which saw Michael Sweet fire the rebound over the bar.

In between those chances striker Joe Bunney rolled a shot just wide after being put in the clear by Venning.

The start of the second half saw Australia have their best chance with Stefan Sacilotto forcing a good save from Tom Betts before England went mighty close to breaking the deadlock when Louis Mobbs saw his powerful header strike the outside of the post after being picked out by a pin-point free kick form Jack Pounce.

Bunney then headed another set-piece just wide but the game became disjointed as both teams made multiple substitutions and in the end a draw was a fair result.

The after match praise for AFC Wulfrunians was very flattering with ESFA spokesman Dave Ebberson saying “AFC Wulfrunians proved to be an excellent venue for this game with the club staff setting extremely high standards for other venues to follow”. High praise indeed considering the next three venues to be used are Newcastle United’s Sports Direct Arena, Dagenham & Redbridge’s Victoria Road ground and Brighton & Hove Albion’s new Amex Community Stadium.

The praise didn’t end there with ESFA Chairman John Appleby adding “Thanks to all who contributed to what was a truly memorable occasion. The organisation and running of the event could not have been bettered and was much better than a lot of internationals that I have attended in bigger stadia. You and your team are a credit to football and your club can count themselves lucky to have such a band of dedicated helpers”.

From our point of view it was a great honour to host such a prestige game and we hope that the exposure we have received will help our club continue to grow.

Wulfs started the game brightly and went close to taking the lead in the opening minute when Chris Rabone’s right wing cross slipped through keeper Adam Lane’s hands and struck the far post. Kyle Brady pounced on the loose ball but fired his shot into the side-netting from a narrow angle.

Two minutes later it was Khalsa who went close to scoring when Scott Sandland’s corner was headed goalwards by Reece Cotterill and Nicky Campbell powdered a header straight at keeper Danny Tipton.

Wulfs went back on the attack and Danny Crudgington intercepted a pass and slid a neat ball through to Brady. His effort was blocked by Lane but he cut the loose ball back to the onrushing Crudgington who hit a first time shot that was superbly blocked by defender Hayden Williams.

Rabone fired a shot just wide of the target and shortly after was brought down on the corner of the area. The resulting free kick from Grant Joshua was headed against his own crossbar by a Khalsa defender before being cleared.

The best chance of the game came in first half injury time when Jake Sedgemore slid a good ball down the line for Joshua to square across goal where substitute Tom Piggott, on for the injured Rabone, fired over under pressure from close range.

Wulfs came out firing at the start of the second half with Brady firing a stinging 25 yard just past the post before Khalsa went close at the other end when Campbell outstripped the defence but couldn’t beat Danny Tipton in a one-on-one.

Wulfs’ job was made a whole lot more difficult in the 61st minute. Khalsa substitute Deepak Gill flew in to a challenge on Evans that earned him a yellow card and Evans’ reaction saw him pick up his second yellow card.

Again, like last week, Wulfs responded positively and took the lead in the 70th minute when Sedgemore played a ball up to Piggott and he helped it first time around the corner for Rose-Laing to run on and slot past the keeper.

After this Wulfs defended resolutely and Khalsa’s only real effort came ten minutes from time when Cotterill’s ball over the top released Gill but his low shot was well smothered by Tipton.

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Wulfs almost extended their lead when Brookes fed Webb but Richards in the Stourbridge goal made a good save.

Stourbridge began to get a foothold in the game and equalised on seven minutes when a good move down the left hand side ended with the ball being played in to Davis who slotted home from the edge of the box.

Stourbridge then dominated the game for the next 20 minutes and Ward was tormenting the Wulfs defence who conceded a number of petty free kicks around their box. From one of them Ward curled the ball just wide.

Also, Ryan made a fine save from Ward when he cut in from the right, and Moores also shot wide when in a good position.

To counter this Wulfs changed their formation switching to a 3-5-2 and this nullified Stourbridge’s wide threat. Wulfs came more into the game and a fine move between Marsh and Webb forced a last gasp clearance for a corner, which was driven across and cleared following a scramble in the Stourbridge box.

Just before half time a defensive error by Lloyd gave the ball to Webb whose shot from 20 yards was only just wide, so the sides went in level at half time.

The second half started brightly, and immediately Wulfs won a free kick on the left. Webb whipped in the free kick and Richards was forced to make a good save when the ball was diverted goalwards.

However, on 50 minutes, Stourbridge took the lead when Ward picked the ball up wide on the right, beat his man marker Gutteridge for the only time in the game, cut in and fired in a tremendous shot from 22 yards which flew in off the underside of the bar.

Wulfs tried to hit back immediately and Bright and Marsh fashioned a chance on the right hand but the ball was scrambled away.

Stourbridge had a great chance to extend their lead when Smith was put clean through but Ryan made a fine double save and Pearson blocked a third goal bound attempt. The resulting corner was cleared up field and Marsh and Bright again combined well down the right before Bright threaded the ball through to Brookes who shrugged off a defender before firing home from 10 yards.

This seemed to unnerve Stourbridge and two minutes later Bright was fouled on the right hand corner of the box and Charlesworth’s low driven free kick was missed by everyone and nestled into the far corner of the net to give Wulfs the lead.

Wulfs then took control with the midfield duo of Wilkinson and Purdie not giving Stourbridge time to play and could easily have extended their lead when firstly Bright played in Brookes whose shot was well saved by Richards and secondly when Marsh played in Webb who shot just over.

Wulfs bought on Turner for Bright to shore up the midfield and Stour made three substitutions in an attempt to get back into the game and it almost paid off when Ryan made another fine double save from Moores and Morgan Parker.

Substitute Hanson also created a chance with a fine turn and shot which was again saved by Ryan, but Wulfs, well marshalled by Whatton, held firm and put the game to bed on 85 minutes when Webb was set free and brought down by the onrushing keeper. He got up to hammer the resulting penalty into the bottom corner and although Stour threw everything at Wulfs for the last five minutes, and should have scored when Hodgetts fired over, Wulfs ran out worthy winners in a fine game played by two very good sides.

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Danny Crudgington’s 33rd minute goal proved to be the winner despite Wulfs going down to ten men as early as the 11th minute when Dave Asbury was dismissed for a rash challenge.

It was the visitors who got off to the better start and they should have taken a 1st minute lead when Chris Poyntz cut a ball back from the left but Matt Webb dragged his shot across goal and wide of the far post.

Lye continued to make the early running and Wulfs’ task was made even more difficult when a strong tackle from Asbury on Steve Bull was punished with a straight red card.

Rather than affecting the home side, the dismissal galvanised them and they almost went ahead when Chis Rabone burst clear down the right only to be denied by a last ditch tackle from Duane Darby and then went closer still when Jake Sedgemore’s deep cross was headed back across goal by Kyle Brady and Crudgington climbed highest to head just past the post.

The goal Wulfs’ enterprising play deserved finally came in the 33rd minute when Crudgington dispossessed his man on halfway and surged forward before firing low past keeper Stephen Jackson.

Lye made a half-time switch with Kalum Evitts coming on for Matt Webb but the expected big push never materialised and it was Wulfs who went close to extending their lead just after the hour when Sedgemore’s long clearance out of defence put Brady in the clear but his shot brought a smart reaction save from Jackson.

Lye’s efforts at goal were restricted to two free kicks from Evitts, the first which was smartly saved low down by Danny Tipton and the other that dipped on to the roof of the net.

Brady went close again for Wulfs late on when he latched on to Sedgemore’s quick free kick and turned well in the area before dragging his shot wide of the target but it didn’t matter as a superb all round defensive display meant Wulfs had already done enough to take all three points.

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Wulfs had another chance when a long throw from Charlesworth set Webb free and his cross fell to Gutteridge whose goal bound effort hit his own player before creeping just wide.

Boldmere then took the lead on 22 minutes when Wulfs gave away a needless free kick 28 yards out and Chubb hit a fine shot which flew over Ryan into the net.

Wulfs hit back and Marsh and Webb combined to force a corner on the right, Webb swung in the corner to Brookes at the far post, his shot was blocked on the line by 2 defenders but Charlesworth, following up, hammered the ball home from close range.

The rest of the first half was a tense affair although Wulfs thought they had scored on 44 minutes but Brookes was flagged offside by the linesman.

The second half started slowly but gradually Wulfs took control. First Webb shot wide from the edge of the box when played through by Bright and then Bright had his shot blocked by a defender when put in by Webb.

However, on 62 minutes Wulfs pressure paid off when Purdie won a header in midfield to feed Wilkinson, who set up Gutteridge on the left corner of the D and he rifled home a low left foot shot.

Wulfs then assumed total control and Marsh and Brookes combined down the right hand side to play in Bright who shot the ball inches wide.

Webb also curled a free kick agonisingly wide of the upright, before the Boldmere keeper gifted Brookes a chance with a poor clearance. He calmly took it by rounding the keeper and stroking home to extend Wulfs lead on 72 minutes.

Three minutes later, fine interplay between Webb, Marsh and Wilkinson set Brookes free and he finished well from the edge of the box to give Wulfs a 4-1 lead.

With Boldmere hardly troubling Whatton or Pearson in the middle of the defence, Wulfs bought on Turner, Ben Webb and Beese, and went in search of another goal and should have had it in the 89^th minute when a flowing move saw Marsh played in but the keeper atoned for his earlier error and made a fine save.

Boldmere got a consolation with the last kick of the game when Wulfs got caught forward and although Ryan blocked O’Reilly’s first effort, he curled the rebound into the unguarded net, but Wulfs ran out worthy 4-2 winners.

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With a strong wind in their favour in the first half, Wulfs started brightly with Kyle Brady firing over from 25 yards and Nathan Rose-Laing forcing keeper Matt Ballard to save well with his feet after being put clear by Danny Crudgington.

Shawbury had a good opportunity on the break when Lester Alderson got in behind before having a shot saved by the outstretched foot of keeper Danny Tipton.

After enjoying the majority of the possession, Wulfs took the lead in the 22nd minute when Liam Evans crossed high in to the area and Grant Joshua headed back across goal leaving Rose-Laing with a simple nod in at the far post.

Full back Ashley Burd then went close to extending the lead when his shot from the edge of the area was superbly turned around the post by a full stretch Ballard.

Joshua the fired into the side-netting from a narrow angle before the home side had a couple of chances to level the scores, first when Sean Butler broke free to force a good save from Tipton and then when Matthew Owen fired a long range shot just wide.

The start of the second half saw Shawbury make good use of the strong wind in their favour but their hopes were hit when danger-man Butler was stretchered off with a nasty looking injury.

They did have a great chance to level in the 55th minute though when a throw-in from the left was flicked on into the area giving Stephen O’Reilly a clear sight of goal but he fired over the bar with just the keeper to beat.

They were made to rue that missed chance as Wulfs extended their lead in the 77th minute. Brady’s driven corner from the right was cleared out to Burd and he strode forward before firing a low shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.

Shawbury refused to lie down and were rewarded as they pulled a goal back in the 87th minute. O’Reilly sent in a good cross from the left and Alderson climbed well to head home from 10 yards.

The earlier injury to Butler meant there was always going to be a lot of injury time and Shawbury piled the pressure on but Wulfs had a great chance to seal the victory when a Shawbury corner was cleared out to substitute Chris Rabone and he ran fully 70 yards but was foiled as he attempted to round the keeper.

A further five minutes of Shawbury pressure followed but the Wulfs defensive unit held out for a hard fought three points.

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The last time these two sides played a fixture on home soil, Manchester United star Chris Smalling was paired at the back with Southampton defender Aaron Martin so the quality on show is usually extremely high.

Past players to have toured the UK from Australia include former Wolves star Steve Corica as well as the likes of full internationals Tony Vidmar and Marco Bresciano. Another interesting name to have represented the Australia Schools side is cricketing legend Steve Waugh who was a very talented footballer before switching sports.

Castlecroft Stadium was originally the Wolves training ground from the mid 1950′s until the mid 1980′s and then became England RFU’s national centre for schools and youth rugby and was the setting for over 200 schoolboy rugby internationals during their 17 year stay.

AFC Wulfrunians moved in to the stadium in 2009 and currently play in the West Midlands (Regional) League and boast a former England Schoolboy Captain as their club Captain in Jake Sedgemore.

Chairman Ian Round says “It’s a great honour to be bringing international competition back to the Castlecroft Stadium. Under its former owners the ground has been the stage for the likes of Billy Wright, John Richards and Andy Gray as well as Jonny Wilkinson, Ollie Barkeley and Will Greenwood. Now we have the opportunity to showcase some of the country’s brightest young talents which only adds to the honour of being chosen to stage an England game.”

If you are interested in watching today’s stars of tomorrow, the cost of entry for this game is just £3 for adults and £2 for under 16′s and tickets can be pre-ordered by calling 01785 785970 or you can pay on the gate.