Third Straight Three Nil Win
Barclays U18s Premier League
Saturday 12th April 2014
City: O’Brien(GK), Maffeo, Oseni, Adarabioyo(Horsfield), Smith-Brown(Capt.), Byrne, Intima(Nemane), Holland(Bryan), Ambrose, Boadu, Barker
Goals: Ambrose, Barker, Bryan
Unused: Albinson(GK), Assiana
City were facing a West Ham team in what could be City’s penultimate league game at Platt lane that up until a few weeks ago were going to qualify for the southern section play-off places. However they had lost their previous three leagues and look to have lost their chance of those play-offs and again were outdone today by a City team that had only lost one game in their last eight game and goals from Thierry Ambrose, Brandon Barker and substitute Kean Bryan meant another deserved three points for City’s U18s.
The game started with a real bang when inside the opening twenty five seconds City quite rightly should have been awarded a penalty when Brandon Barker gets the ball in to the area from the left which Jorge Intima runs on to and is just about to shoot when he is kicked from behind in the air but the referee was either still not awake from the kick off to miss it or he clearly wanted to cheat City out of a clear chance to take the lead despite the lads deserved protests.
Just over sixty seconds later and again Barker who caused the West Ham back line to back off allowed him the space to cut inside and fire a low hard shot that Tim Brown in the West Ham goal could not hold onto and it was rolling into the goal but Brown managed to get up and back to it before it crossed the line.
Despite City piling on the pressure it was West Ham who could have taken the lead when a ball over the top on the left and Marcio Martins ran forward but Nathaniel Oseni was backing off too much and then slipped which allowed Martins a low hard shot on the angle across Billy O’Brien but Billy did really well to get down quickly with a firm hand to turn the ball around the post for the corner.
City did not have to wait long to take that lead that they had been looking for as in the twelfth minute a Jack Byrne corner from the left is headed up in the air by Oseni and there was Tosin Adarabioyo who headed the ball on and Ambrose got in front of his marker to finish at the far post from close range.
Clearly West Ham were not sitting towards the top of the Southern section for nothing as Kieran Bywater’s direct inswinging free kick beats everyone at the far post and looked like it might be one of those efforts that goes in without anyone getting any contact but it did not quite curl enough as it bounced onto the post.
Intima then had a chance to double the lead when a quick move on the break moved towards the area and the ball came over and rolled into the path of the Portuguese youth international but he couldn’t quite get his balance and get over the ball as he put his strong shot wide of the near post.
Intima then turned provider just before the half hour mark when he played a lovely weighted through ball that Denzeil Boadu ran onto and then did his usual dance with the ball which had the West ham defence falling over themselves backing off and the Londoner fired a disguised low shot into the near post which fooled Brown but it failed to beat the post.
City started the second half not quite as quick as the first and certainly West Ham came out with a little more purpose but you could see from the first half that they lacked that something special further up the field to take advantage.
That was proved costly as the game moved near the hour mark when Ambrose running on to a ball into the area after seeing a deflected shot saved minutes earlier was bundled over on the left of the area and making up for his first half omission the referee this time pointed to the spot. Barker was charged with the responsibility of taking the spot kick and he confidently fired into the bottom right corner of the goal to send Brown the wrong way.
City continued to press despite a fairly comfortable lead and that pressing resulted in Ambrose again being the assist master as he played a lovely ball forward to his left which substitute Kean Bryan powered forward with past the defender before firing a shot into the corner of the goal from the edge of the area to give Brown no chance and confirm all three points to the league leaders.
City after that goal were able to control proceedings and see things out to ensure that City only need a maximum of three points from their final two games to ensure they win the northern division for home advantage in the play-offs.
City have a couple of weeks off now for Easter but then return for a tricky away fixture at Chelsea and then what could be the last academy league game at Platt lane against Newcastle.
Posted in Academy Match Reports by Gavin Cooper/Andrew Waldon.