Under-18s : Manchester United 7 Newcastle 1
Barclays Under-18 Premier League Merit Group | 9 April 2016 | Aon Training Complex | Scorers: Gomes 3, Boonen 35, 72, 83, Dearnley 58, Kehinde 80, Reid 90; Smith 39.
Manchester United’s Under-18s swept to easily their biggest win of the season at the Aon Training Complex on Saturday against a plucky and hard-working Newcastle United side.
The game was pretty well in the balance for best part of an hour, but then the hosts turned up the heat in the final third of the game to put the result beyond doubt with Indy Boonen completing a hat-trick as the Reds went on a goalscoring rampage.
Having endured a largely disappointing league season, the Under-18s started the secondary merit phase with a couple of encouraging successes but then slipped up with two consecutive defeats before the international break. So it was with a renewed focus that Tommy Martin’s youngsters approached this game against Newcastle to begin the final weeks of the campaign.
It was a bright afternoon as the teams lined up - Newcastle strangely in white shirts and blue shorts rather than their universally-famous black-and-white stripes.
Reds coach Martin had urged his players to make a lively opening to the contest, so he must have been delighted when they raced out of the blocks to take the lead inside three minutes.
When Boonen sent over a pass from the left, Angel Gomes was presented with the simple task of sweeping the ball into the net. It seems crazy to say that the hosts deserved the goal, after just three minutes of the game, but it was certainly in keeping with the early flow of play.
The Reds continued to make the running, but in the 11th minute, Newcastle’s Callum Smith did well down the left before wildly firing over George Dorrington’s bar. A few minutes later, Daniel Lowther went close for the Magpies when his well-struck shot thumped against the upright.
There was a lengthy delay soon after when Newcastle defender Oliver Walters was attended to on the field for what appeared to be a knee injury and he was later taken from the scene via a mini-ambulance.
Martin's boys increased their lead immediately after the restart with Boonen getting his name on the scoresheet, though the Magpies pulled one back just before half-time when Smith broke free before hitting his shot past Dorrington.
The second half of the game followed a similar pattern to the one we had witnessed during the opening spell. Both teams were prepared to put the emphasis on attack, but the Reds were much more accurate in front of goal. Zachary Dearnley increased the lead to 3-1, in the 58th minute, following a nice little spell of attacking from the Reds.
Newcastle had been in the game up to this point, but it was soon to get well beyond their grasp as the home side proceeded to bag three goals in an 11-minute spell.
Boonen claimed two of them to complete his hat-trick, either side of a strike from Tosin Kehinde. Reds right-back Tyler Reid completed the rout when he joined the attack to score the seventh and final goal and crown a fine afternoon for Manchester United's youngsters.
United: Dorrington; Reid, Warren, Scott, Olosunde (Dunne 75); McIntosh-Buffonge, Whelan (Sang 65), Kehinde, Boonen; Gomes, Dearnley. Substitutes not used: Moutha-Sebtaoui (Gk), Kenyon, Diedrick-Roberts.
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