Liverpool u18 2 Sheff Wed u18 0 (Sep 15 2007)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL U18 2 Sheff Wed U18 0

Report by Pete Schulz at the Academy

Scorer(s) - Ryan Crowther, David Amoo Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Liverpool Academy, Kirkby Date - Sat 15 Sep 2007 Star Man - Marvin Pourie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool U18s got their season back on track with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at the academy on Saturday morning. Second half goals from new signings Ryan Crowther and David Amoo made sure of the points, but it could and should have been more for the young reds who dominated throughout.

‘New’ coach Hughie MacAuley, who has returned to the academy after a spell at Melwood with the reserves, has quite a few new faces to choose from this season, and several of them made it into his starting eleven.

In goal, Australian Dean Bouzanis made his debut because of injury to the normal first choice goalkeeper Martin Hansen. The young Dane has had another operation on the injured finger which also kept him out of the second leg of last season’s Youth Cup final at Old Trafford.

Swedish youth international Astrit Ajdarevic, who did play on that occasion, was also on the sidelines with slight groin problems.

In front of him were the twin towers of Martin Kelly and Joe Kennedy with Mattone Awang and Shane O’Connor either side. In midfield MacAuley picked the two first years Steve Irwin and Sean Highdale with new additions Ryan Crowther and Gary Mackay Steven on the wings.

Up front, German forward Marvin Pourie, a new arrival from Dortmund, partnered David Amoo who has been signed from Millwall. The two haven’t really gelled so far this season as they’ve tended to make the same kind of attacking runs, but both look promising.

The young reds started brightly in the Kirkby sunshine and the strong German forward found himself at the end of several dangerous moves. However, his finishing coupled with the form of the visitors’ goalkeeper, Arron Jameson, meant that reds goals were not forthcoming.

On the left Gary Mackay Steven was constantly giving his fullback a hard time. He kept finding Pourie in good positions and it was a blow when he had to go off injured after 32 minutes. The Scot was replaced by promising forward Nathan Eccleston, who has also previously been used on the left wing.

The home side dominated but couldn’t find the decisive opening and on the stroke of half time, Wednesday’s Leon Lekaj saw his effort bounce off Bouzanis’ crossbar.

There were no changes at half time and the game continued in the same fashion after the interval. Pourie was again at the centre of things as Amoo was moved to the left wing with Eccleston given a chance in the middle.

Despite the domination the breakthrough came following a counter attacking move. Ryan Crowther, who is at Melwood as part of Gary Ablett's reserve squad, had had rather a poor game, but his deflected shot left Jameson with no chance and from then on it was only a question of how many.

The reds introduced highly rated Swedish midfielder Alexander Kacaniklic in place of Crowther midway through the half and he showed some very good touches on the left. He signed for the club in February but was injured in April and has had to wait a long time for his debut at this level.

David Amoo, now on the right, started to show glimpses of his qualities on several occasions and he really does seem to have frightening pace. But Hughie MacAuley will no doubt be looking to help him utilise it even better in the coming matches.

The forward quartet was leaving positive overall impressions but they should really have made it count. Pourie, who was my star man because he got into so many good positions, was unlucky when he smashed a curling shot off both uprights. But it wasn’t to be his day in front of goal and he was replaced by Michael Collins with 15 minutes to go.

The reds did manage to double the lead though as the game entered the final stages. A good give and go with Michael Collins sent David Amoo clear, and he planted a low shot in the far corner of the Wednesday goal.

The partnership with Pourie still needs work but it will be interesting to see what kind of understanding they can strike up during the season. With promising players in all the attacking positions of this year’s youth team, regular Academy-goers could be in for a good few more goals this season than we have been treated with recently. Here’s hoping.

And Steve Heighway, who spent the second half chatting to his successor – sort of – John Owens behind the goal in front of the Academy building, will surely be back to check on the progress of some of his former players.

Team: Bouzanis; Awang, Kelly, Kennedy, O'Connor; Crowther (Kacaniklic), Irwin, Highdale, Steven (Eccleston); Amoo, Pourie (Collins):