Manchester City u18 2 Liverpool u18 1

[TLW]

Man City U18 2 LIVERPOOL U18 1

Report by Dave Usher at the Academy

Scorer(s) - Paul Barratt Half Time - 0-1 Venue - The Academy Date - Wed 15 Feb 2006 Star Man - Stephen Darby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reds u18 side missed the opportunity to go top of the table, as a last minute winner from Manchester City condemned John Owens’ side to a 2-1 defeat at the Academy this afternoon. The scoreline was very harsh on Liverpool, who dominated the game from start to finish.

Paul Barratt had given the reds a half time lead, with a cool finish in first half stoppage time after a brilliant through ball from Charlie Barnett had sent him clear. City levelled early in the second half after a terrible mistake from keeper Dave Roberts, and grabbed the winner right at the end after the reds defence had struggled to clear a long throw.

The game (which was actually City's home fixture even though it was played in Kirkby) was played in a strong wind, which Liverpool had the benefit of in the first half. John Owens made one change to the side which started Saturday’s win over Manchester United, with James Frayne replacing the injured Michael Burns on the right wing, just as he had during Saturday’s game.

Striker Craig Lindfield almost put the reds in front in bizzarre circumstances after four minutes, when he closed down the City keeper and blocked his attempted clearance. The ball ricocheted off him and rolled goalwards, but went just the wrong side of the post.

Liverpool dominated all the early play, and two minutes later Charlie Barnett almost got through after a good break. Lindfield got in behind the City defence, and played the ball to the supporting Wignall. He shifted it on once again to the onrushing Barnett, but just as he was about to shoot he was challenged by a defender who made a vital block.

Chances were few and far between after that, and neither side had a sniff of a chance until the half hour mark, when Lindfield just couldn’t get enough on a brilliant ball by Frayne from iside his own half.

The wind was hampering the play of both sides, but just before half time the reds managed a goal out of nothing. Barnett collected the ball in his own half, and drilled a low ball through the City defence into the path of Barrat who’d made a run inside from the left wing. Barratt outpaced the full back, and rolled the ball under the advnacing keeper.

The goal was no more than the reds deserved, but the second half was always going to be tougher due to the wind. Three minutes after the break Roberts had to make an acrobatic tip over following a lomg range shot from City’s number eight, and ten minutes into the half Threlfall made a wonderful last ditch tackle to prevent the number nine going through.

City were building a little bit of momentum, helped by the wind, but their equaliser was completely down to sloppiness by Liverpool rather than good play by the visitors. Jordan Holmes played the ball back to Roberts, but didn’t get as much on it as he needed. Even so, Roberts still reached it with time to spare, but instead of launching it forst time, he hesitated, tried to take a touch and missed it completely. The City centre forward was left with a tap into the empty net.

It was a sickener for the reds, who had worked so hard to get their noses in front. They recovered well from the setback though, but for all their neat approach play and territorial dominance, the City keeper was largely untroubled.

Owens made a chance on 70 minutes, withdrawing Frayne and sending on Jimmy Ryan. That meant Barnett switching to the right wing, with Ryan coming on to partner Flynn in the centre. Ryan settled into the game immediately and looked in good form, pinging the ball all over the park with his usual accuracy.

Liverpool’s most likely source of a goal seemed to be Barnett’s superbly delivered corner kicks. Woods met one of them, but his header was deflected over the bar by a defender. Barratt then did well to cut in from the left and send a powerful shot goalwards, but it was right down the keeper’s throat.

Francis Smith and Michael Nardiello were then introduced in place of Wignall and Flynn, and Nardiello had a good chance a minute after coming on, when Barnett took a short corner to Barratt, and he sent in a great cross which Nardiello met on the volley, but couldn’t keep it down.

Liverpool continued to press for the winning goal which their play had deserved, but they were cruelly condemned to defeat when they didn’t get enough distance on a clearance from a long throw, and the number eight drilled in a shot from 20 yards to give City an undeserved win.

The result was disappointing, but City are one of the better sides in this league and Liverpool bossed the game against them. Creatively the reds weren’t quite up to scratch, but as Rafa would say, they ‘controlled the game’ and were undone by a mistake, and some bad luck.

Star Man for me was Stephen Darby, who was outstanding defensively and was constantly trying to lift his team-mates and offer encouragement. He just pips Charlie Barnett, who played well in the middle of the park, and Robbie Threlfall who was solid in defence.


Team: Roberts; Holmes, Woods, Threlfall, Darby; Frayne (Ryan), Barnett, Flynn (Smith), Barratt; Lindfield, Wignall (Nardiello):