City Revenge the Five Goal Thriller of Last Pre-Season
MCFC XI: Grimshaw(GK), Bullock, Blackshaw(Duhaney 60), Kigbu, Coveney(Murray 60), Davenport(Hardy 71), Buckley(Faour 60) Diallo Nmecha(Corfe 82) Patching Diaz.
Goals: Nmecha(9, 55 & 66), Buckley(31), Diaz(80)
Having scored goals for fun out against opposition in their Spanish training camp the U18s were brought back to earth slightly with a solitary goal victory against Welsh Premier league side Rhyl FC and so perhaps we might be expecting a slightly happy medium between the two perspectives of games they played in their pre-season build up. How wrong we were as City got forward in numbers at will but with that attacking approach means gaps can be exploited on the counter and that is exactly what QPR did for the first hour before Jason Wilcox made some personnel changes and so we were treated to a final half hour dominated by City that the 5-3 score line flattered QPR.
City started on the front foot right from the kick off with Brahim Diaz running and wriggling his way through a few defenders on the left side and into the area before firing his shot that went just over the bar.
City continued to push forward but with QPR also getting forward it was a little end to end stuff but just as the first ten minutes of the match were running out City hit QPR on the break down the right hand side when the ball came out to Callum Bullock who burst forward into space and delivered a great cross in front of the defenders and allowed Lukas Nmecha just to run straight on to it and fire past the goalkeeper.
The referee was really allowing the game to flow with the physicality’s not being penalised but perhaps he allowed it a little too much as Nmecha had a blatant shove in the back in the penalty area but he decided there was no infringement worthy of a foul and a penalty.
Right from that dubious decision QPR went up the other end and broke through a City defence that was not really working in sync with one another and they were able to break free and fire past Grimshaw.
The game settled down for a near twenty minute spell then with neither side testing either goalkeeper but the referee took an exception from a tackle from behind on Sadou Diallo and the QPR number eight was booked for the crude challenge.
City then had a sustained period of around five minutes where they put together a series of waves of attacks that saw the goalkeeper and defence save, block and clear away from the line to stop City re-taking the lead.
The resistance finally gave way when Buckley made a strong run through the centre on the right and played a one two with Nmecha into the area and his initial shot was parried back by the goalkeeper into his path and despite the attentions of a defender Isaac was able to bundle the ball over the line.
Again however City found themselves pegged back a few minutes later when QPR work the ball forward on their right and were able to find space to place the ball past Grimshaw.
City started the second half off well and again got into some good position but failed to find that killer pass until the fifty fifth minute when Jacob Davenport dispossessed QPR near City’s area and then work some space to play a nice neat ball to Brahim who had time and space to turn before chipping a lovely ball over the defender’s head and into a position where Nmecha took a nice touch to control the ball before moving forward into the area and firing past the goalkeeper at the near post.
Again QPR came back at City just a few minutes later and again it was on their right hand side and the player from distance with the space to fire a great long range curling shot that Danny Grimshaw in goal had no chance of saving to make the score three all and eclipsing the five goal thriller we saw at Platt Lane last pre-season where the West London side edged that game 3-2.
That third was perhaps the final straw for Wilcox as he knew he need to change the personnel at the back and help give Grimshaw some more protection as on came Josh Murray and the very rapid Demeaco Duhaney on his less familiar left side.
With those changes on the hour mark saw a near domination of possession and Grimshaw have no more meaningful saves to make.
Despite all City’s good forward and incisive play the fourth goal came from a nicely driven corner by Will Patching and Nmecha ran off his defender to score his third and hat-trick goal as he headed past a stranded goalkeeper.
Duhaney was really causing the QPR defence many problems with his overlapping runs and forcing their players many questions that they were just about answering but perhaps those questions created other spaces for other players and it was Diaz who found space on the left to run into the area where he was bundled over by the defender.
The young Spaniard confidently picked himself up and stepped forward and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to fire City into a five three lead.
City continued to press forward to score even more goals as the QPR defence were pulled all over the place but again the best chance came from a corner which was played short by patching to Diaz who played it back to him and Will ran into the area with ballet-esque footwork past defenders who were made to look like statues but when Will got into a position to shoot on the angle the QPR goalkeeper who probably had one of his best ever games despite conceding five goals was there again to save another goal going in from Patching’s near post shot.
I think with a similar team that played just after conceding the third goal City will wreak havoc on lots of defences and if Wilcox lines that team up next Saturday against Liverpool for the first BU18PL game of the season we should well see a winning start.