U18s Report: Leeds United 5-3 Everton | OneFootball

U18 Premier League North

Leeds United U18 5 (Morris 21’, White 27’, 45’; Firth 38’, Thompson 90’)

Everton U18 3 (Loney 25’, Robert 48’, 79’)

Leeds: Wood, Firth (C), Philpott, Whitehead, Simo, Howard, Njinko, Mills, Morris (Thompson 85’), Mensah (Alker 85’), White. Subs not used: Cook (GK), Watson, Bennett.

Everton: Lukjanciks (GK), Matos (Evans 83’), Poland, Gokah, Gardner (c), Akarakiri, Stewart (Pita 71’), Olayiwola (Moses 71’), Loney (Nsangou 52’), Robert, Wren (Doughty 83’).

Booked: Philpott (Leeds) Poland (Everton)

Referee: Jon Ashworth-Sears

Venue: Thorp Arch

Four first half goals plus a stoppage time strike saw Leeds United Under-18s come away victorious against a physical Everton Under-18s side.

The young Whites went ahead after 21 minutes when Jack Morris got his shot away across goal and into the bottom left corner, after a brilliant counter-attack by Carrick Njinko and Logan White.

However, the visitors equalised just four minutes later when Kean Wren picked out the head of Ceiran Loney who found the back of the net.

It only took two minutes for Leeds to regain their lead, though, with Callum Mills doing superbly well to keep the ball in play on the touchline before reaching Morris. The midfielder’s pass found White in the box who smashed it in to make it 2-1!

Ten minutes later, the home side made it three! Excellent tenacity from skipper Will Firth saw him in the perfect position to block a clearance that rocketed off his foot and into the bottom left corner!

With the last kick of the first half, three became four as White scored another! This time, the forward drove from inside his own half and won a free kick in a dangerous position. He then curled the ball round the wall, wrongfooting the keeper, and doubled his first half tally.

It must be mentioned, too, that in between the relentless goalscoring, Leeds keeper Oliver Wood pulled off multiple great interventions to keep Everton’s first half tally to just one.

HALF TIME: Leeds United U18 4-1 Everton U18

Immediately after the break, the visitors pulled a goal back to make it 4-2, with Ray Robert tapping in a rebound after his first effort was excellently saved.

Robert could have had two in two minutes but Wood picked up where he left off in the first half, making yet another fantastic stop to deny the visitors.

Following this, there was a sustained period of pressure from the Toffees in which the young Whites defended superbly to keep Everton at bay. However, with just over 10 minutes of time remaining Robert got his second goal, smashing the ball home from close range to make it 4-3.

With the lead cut to one, it seemed to flip a switch in the home side who immediately started to calm the play down and control possession in order to see out the remaining time.

This composure was rewarded with a fifth late in stoppage time. White claimed a fourth goal contribution of the game by superbly picking out energetic substitute Aiden Thompson with a reverse pass, who slotted the ball into the net with the final kick of the afternoon.

It was ultimately a match defining first half for Rob Etherington’s youthful U18s who went into the break with a healthy lead. The second half saw the team have to dig in at times but United held on to pick up a win on their return from the international break. Next weekend, Leeds travel to Stoke City looking for their third victory from the opening five fixtures.

FULL TIME: Leeds United U18 5-3 Everton U18