UNDER-18S: MANCHESTER UNITED 2 STOKE CITY 0
Barclays Under-18 Premier League | 13 February 2016 | Aon Training Complex | Scorers: Gribbin 27’, Rashford 33’
Manchester United Under-18s reacted positively to the departure of coach Paul McGuinness with a deserved 2-0 win over Stoke City for their first league victory since September.
Tommy Martin, in temporary charge following McGuinness’s exit on Friday, will be delighted with what he saw as first-half goals from Callum Gribbin and Marcus Rashford earned the Reds all three points at the Aon Training Complex.
United, who made three changes to the team unfortunate to lose 1-0 at Stoke a fortnight ago, had to defend well in the opening exchanges as the Potters began brightly on a crisp morning in Manchester.
Thibaud Verlinden and Jake Dunnwoody tested United goalkeeper Oliver Byrne from outside the box before the Reds began to pose a threat and broke the deadlock on 27 minutes.
Gribbin won possession on the right hand side, drove purposefully into the box and stroked home past Chris Marques from a tight angle.
After scoring for the first time in three games, the Reds quickly followed it up with a second goal six minutes later when Rashford, an unused substitute for the first team’s win at Watford in November, raced on to Callum Whelan’s pass before cutting inside several defenders to slot into the bottom corner.
The Reds were firmly in control of proceedings without creating many chances but Stoke almost reduced the arrears just before half-time as Dunnwoody chipped an effort wide from Danny Jarvis’s through ball.
United continued in the same vein after the break as Rashford went close with a curling free-kick before Darren McIntosh-Buffonge had a low shot from 20 yards tipped onto the post by Marques.
Stoke enjoyed most of the play in a second half which lacked the same intensity as the first but the Potters struggled to break through.
The visitors' substitute Shola Ayoola, who scored the winner when the sides met at Clayton Wood, brought a fine save out of Byrne as the well-organised Reds stayed determined to record only a second league clean sheet of the season.
The win lifts United off the bottom of the Academy Premier League North, a point above Stoke, and ends a 12-game losing run in the league.
A dominant display and three points will give the Reds a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the next game against local rivals and league leaders Manchester City at the Aon Training Complex on Wednesday afternoon (KO 13:00 GMT).
United: Byrne; Reid, Warren, Dunne (c), Spratt; Whelan, Kehinde, McIntosh-Buffonge (Makela 70’), Gribbin; Rashford (Tanner 67’), Dearnley (Diedrick-Roberts 80’). Subs not used: Dorrington. Booked: Dunne.
Stoke City: Marques, Edwards, Wells, Jarvis, Reid, Da Silva, Verlinden (Butler 45’), Dunnwoody, Abdallah (Ayoola 66’), Brierley, Russo. Subs not used: Allen, Twford, Wara.
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