Young guns shine for Wolves Sporting

Sporting recorded their third league win on the bounce to climb into seventh in the West Midlands Premier thanks to goals from Oliver West and Iyseden Clark.

Francis was pleased by his side’s second-half showing and believes his young charges are starting to string together the results needed to push for a place in the top four.

“It took a while to get the right group of players at the beginning of the season,” he said. “But now we’ve got a really nice blend here.

“I’m not afraid to pick anyone. As long as they’re good enough, anyone will be given the chance. I think we only have three players over 25.

“It’s then up to the players, to take their chance when it is given to them. And, to be fair to the young lads, they have been really consistent this season.

“Little Jayden (Ward), nothing seems to faze him, he’s 16 and tying grown men in knots. He’s embarrassed quite a few in the league so far.”

Ward played a pivotal part in Saturday’s victory, winning the spot-kick for Sporting’s second goal and Francis believes his side were well worth the three points, especially after the interval.

“We went in 0-0 at the break, but in the second half the boys raised it,” he said. “We found another 10, 15 percent and we out battled them.

“I think we were comfortable, apart from the penalty that gave us a bit of a scare, I thought we dealt with everything that they threw our way.”

The weekend win has left Sporting just three points adrift of Darlaston Town in fourth and Francis has made clear his ambitions for the season.

“We’re aiming to finish in the top four,” he said. “Four teams go up this year and we want to be one of them.

“We’ve got a few games in hand on the teams in and around us. If we can win those, it puts us in a great position.

“But, we don’t fear anyone. We’re going into every game, believing we can win.”

Sporting’s next league clash is away to bottom-of-the-table Cradley Town on Saturday.