Liverpool Res 0 Sunderland Res 1 (Oct 2 2007)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL RES 0 Sunderland Res 1

Report by Dave Usher at the Halliwell Jones Stadium

Scorer(s) Half Time – 0-1 Venue – Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington Date - Tue 2 Oct 2007 Star Man – Jay Spearing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ressies’ first game at their new ‘home’ in Warrington didn’t end well, as they suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of a strong Sunderland side. The result was somewhat harsh, as Gary Ablett’s youngsters were certainly worth a point at least, and played some good football at times against their more experienced opponents.

The under-strength reds had to make do without skipper Jack Hobbs, as well as Nabil El Zhar, Sebastian Leto and Lucas Leiva. There was still no sign of the new Hungarians, or the new Spanish lad Daniel Ayala. Dani Pacheco was also missing, apparently representing Spain in an u17 tournament somewhere. Ronald Huth and Ray Putterill made their first starts of the season, and there was a place on the bench for in form Academy striker Marvin Pourie.

Sunderland fielded a forward line including David Connolly, Daryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes, Kiki Musampa was in the middle of midfield and Greg Halford and Ian Harte provided experience in the full back spots. Halford is much bigger than I realised, and he provided Putterill with a real challenge. For the most part, the Sunderland man bossed the encounter and the physical contrast meant at times it looked like man against boy. It wasn’t all one way though, and ‘Razor’ had some good moments of his own. He will have benefited much more from this than he would have from ripping the piss out of some no-mark for ninety minutes. This will have been a good experience for Ray.

The same can be said for the rest of Ablett’s side. Huth and San Jose played very well against Sunderland’s experienced forwards, and Spearing’s battle with Musampa was the highlight of the game for me. The Liverpool midfielder was the best player on the pitch and he definitely got the better of the Dutchman.

Liverpool started the game better than the visitors, but found it difficult to create any clear cut openings. Putterill had a decent effort on five minutes when he won possession on the halfway line and surged forward down the left wing. He cut inside onto his stronger foot, but his curling shot was too high.

Jordy Brouwer thought he’d given his side the lead after 19 minutes when he headed in a fine cross from the excellent Stephen Darby, but his celebrations were curtailed by a linesman’s flag. I’d say he probably was just off, but it was tight.

Sunderland had not really threatened at all, but went on front against the run of play just after the half hour, when Huth lost his footing and Stokes went clean through the centre. Dave Martin came out and did well to initially snuff out the danger, but O’Donovan followed up and rounded the keeper before finishing well from a tightening angle.

The goal sparked a good spell from the Wearsiders, and Connolly should have added a second shortly after, when he produced a brilliant first touch to pull a long ball out of the sky and away from Martin, but he blasted his shot well over the bar. The Irishman had an even better opportunity just before the halftime whistle when Stokes got in behind the reds’ defence and cut the ball across perfectly for his strike partner, but Martin made a good save with his outstretched right leg.

The keeper repeated the feat immediately after the break, as Connolly got through again only to see his shot come back of Martin’s boot. Liverpool were wobbling a bit at this point, as the movement of Sunderland’s forwards was posing some problems. As the half wore on however, Ablett’s side began to apply some pressure.

The impressive Emiliano Insua went closest to an equaliser when he strode forward and thumped a drive against the underside of the crossbar. It was a fabulous hit and deserved a goal, but it wasn’t to be. Liverpool had to change something if they were to begin to threaten Sunderland’s goal more frequently, and Ablett decided to gamble a bit by abandoning his rigid 4-4-2 with two holding players, and pushing Spearing further forward to support the front two.

Jay’s defensive qualities are a real strength of his, as anyone who saw his flawless performances at centre back in last year’s FA Youth Cup success will testify. But he can attack as well, and when he was let off the leash by Ablett he began causing Sunderland all kinds of problems.

He was unlucky not to score when Lindfield’s persistence down the right ended with him squaring the ball for ‘Speo’, but his shot was blocked by the keeper. Jay also had a penalty appeal waved away after a surging run past three players was halted by a robust challenge from behind. I didn’t see it very clearly as the referee was blocking my view of it, but there were no real appeals from our lads so I assume the Sunderland player must have got the ball. Shame, as it was a fantastic run.

Brouwer should have scored with a free header from an Insua cross, but he disappointingly sent the ball looping over the bar, whilst Insua and Spearing both had shots from distance comfortably saved by the keeper.

Ablett made changes to try and give his side a spark, but they made little difference. The lads had a sustained spell of pressure in the middle of the second half, but when the breakthrough never came they seemed to run out of ideas. Sunderland began to threaten on the break and almost made it 2-0 in stoppage time when Stokes was denied by Martin.


Overall, not a great performance by any means, but not bad either considering the strength of the opposition. Star man was Spearing, but others played well too. San Jose looks a good player, Darby and Insua did well in the full back positions and Plessis (pictured) was good in possession and worked hard.

I liked the look of Pourie when he came on, it’s a shame he didn’t get longer. He’s not been at the club long, and this was his first experience with the reserve squad. A lot of young foreign lads in that situation would understandably be a little daunted by it, but as soon as he got on the field he was screaming encouragement to his team-mates and looks to have something about him. There was a stoppage in play towards the end, and there was a huge shout of ‘COME ON!!!!!!!’ from one of the players. I looked over, and it was Marvin. I liked that, he’s obviously got character.

I think if the side had been at full strength they would have gotten at least a draw out of this game, but there were things to take encouragement from. The side still looks a little short up front, and I’m really looking forward to Pacheco finally making an appearance as I could see him and Lindfield forming a useful partnership.

There will be a few players in this squad hoping to catch the manager’s eye ahead of the Carling Cup tie with Cardiff, none more so than Spearing. He deserves a chance in the first team, but he’s extremely unfortunate that he plays in the position where we have incredible strength in depth. Insua and Darby probably have more of a chance, but it’s going to be hard for them too as Rafa already has Arbeloa, Finnan, Riise and Aurelio for the full back spots. Realistically, Hobbs is the only one who appears to have a chance of getting a game, but you never know I suppose.

Team: Martin; Darby, San Jose, Huth, Insua; Flynn (Threlfall), Spearing, Plessis, Putterill (Crowther); Lindfield (Pourie), Brouwer: