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The Bulls shared a goalless draw against a mixed Wolves side at Edgar Street this afternoon.
With Lee Morris signing earlier today, the Bulls fielded a starting XI of contracted players with Morris partnering Constantine up front, and Sam Gwynne starting on the right with Marc Pugh on the left.
There were new trialists on the bench, with the team sheet reporting Marc Manga, Sunday Wasiu, Tomi Ameobi, and James McQuilkin being joined on the bench by Matt Richards and a newly named Franck Padovani. However the exact identities of quite who came on was a bit of a mystery. McQuilkin played as 23 rather than the listed 21, Padovani did not play according to the shirt numbers fielded, while no.20 was named as Joel Edwards but was not the youth team player signed on contract.
The game was largely the Bulls, with an inexperienced Wolves front line struggling to break past a resolute Bulls defence throughout the first half. At the other end of the pitch the marauding Pugh and Ryan Green were creating havoc down the flanks with Morris providing a constant threat with Wolves defender Darren Ward opting to phone-in his first half performance.
As early as the third minute a perfectly weighted crossfield ball from Green found Morris, but he blasted over while Jamie Tolley sent a similar ball the other way for Green to head into the box five minutes later that needed to be scrambled away before Morris pounced. With the defensive pairing of Richard Rose and Keith Lowe mopping up the neat passing of Wolves before it got dangerous a Kenny Lunt through ball saw Green break the offside trap and deliver a cross that the defence struggled to clear.
Pugh, who dished out lollipops like a rampant clown, latched onto a long ball from Rose to again terrorise the full back but Morris could only run the ball out of play before turning for a shot. While on the half hour mark Wolves provided their first real chance as Lowe was dumped on his backside in being turned inside out but got the ball away for a corner before a worrying moment as Adam Bartlett flapped a little at the crossed ball before it was hacked away.
The performance deteriorated in the second half as the subs appeared. Matt Done's introduction on the left saw Pugh cross to the right to terrorise the other full back, while Ameobi and Wasiu were both given half an hour to prove their worth. Both were capable of creating chances, but both hesitated when the chance was there and the opportunities were swiftly cut out.
With few clear cut chances a Pugh cross was flicked just over the bar by Rose after a corner was forced from a deflected Wasiu shot, before Pugh decided to do it all himself in beating two men before driving the ball just wide from 20 yards. McQuilkin came on and played some absolutely perfect passes as a late cameo.
At the end it remained goalless, with Pugh a clear Man of the Match for his relentless onslaught. The 797 crowd, with 151 from Wolves, would have been generally happy with the performances of the bulk of the contracted players.
Bulls: Bartlett, Green, Valentine, Rose, Lowe, Lunt, Tolley, Gwynne, Pugh, Morris, Constantine. Subs - Done, Manga, Jones, Wasiu, Ameobi, Padovani, Richards, Edwards, McQuilkin.
