Under-18s enjoy Royals success

Dilan Markanday struck on his return to action as our Under-18 side sealed a comfortable 2-0 win at Reading on Saturday.

The attacking midfielder, who has been out of action since picking up an injury in last month’s win at Brighton, opened the scoring on 26 minutes as he slotted in Rayan Clarke’s cross from close range before the victory was wrapped up with 13 minutes to play as Royals goalkeeper Jokull Andresson failed in his attempts to control Josh Hewitt’s back-pass and the ball rolled into the back of the net.

Both sides handed opportunities to some Under-16s players to acclimatise to life in the Under-18 Premier League with coach Matt Wells giving a first league start to young striker Tarrelle Whittaker, while identical twins Michael and Matthew Craig were introduced into midfield for their debuts in the second half.

The opening exchanges between the sides at Reading’s Hogwood Park training centre were fairly even as both teams began to get a feel of the ball. Paris Maghoma brought a smart stop from Andresson via his 25-yard free-kick while the home side also created an opportunity of their own but Nahum Melvin-Lambert could not convert Khalid Simmo’s cross.

On 26 minutes, however, it would be through a move of similar fashion that we took the lead. Rafferty Pedder - in for his first league start at this level - made great progress in midfield before picking out Clarke on the left wing, who, once beating his man, sent in a low cross into the six-yard box where Markanday was waiting to tap the ball into the corner of the net.

The goal spurned an immediate reaction from Reading and in the space of the next five minutes, they would have three great opportunities to get themselves back on terms. All three chances. though, brought smart saves out of a resolute Jonathan De Bie, especially the second of the trio as the keeper had to throw himself across his goal to divert Dejan Tetek’s effort over the bar with his fingertips. While the hosts enjoyed a strong finish to the first period with their high pressing play, they remained unable to find a way past De Bie and that would continue into the second half.

The game had been one of little chances and, thus, it took 19 minutes of the second period for us to witness the first opportunity. It was the home side who created it but, following a game of pinball in the box, the resulting effort that was flicked towards De Bie’s goal from close range was again saved.

That would be the Royals' only chance of the half as we began to find a lot of space and time on the ball and the central defensive partnership of Luis Binks and Malachi Walcott started to dictate the play from the back as we began to get a stronghold on the play.

On 75 minutes we had a great chance to double our lead through Clarke as we broke away on the counter-attack. Maghoma took the ball off the toes of the high pressing Reading defenders and played a neat one-two with Clarke, releasing the midfielder into the box, his run was cut short by Roberto Nditi but, when the ball fell kindly back to Clarke, the winger saw his strike saved smartly by keeper Andresson.

While he had certainly kept the Royals in the game at that moment, the man between the sticks for the home side would accidentally seal his team's defeat just two minutes later. Substitute Maxwell Statham put defender Hewitt under significant pressure on the right flank, forcing him to play it back to the keeper and, with no pressure on him, he allowed the ball to roll under his foot and trickle over the line.

Key moment

Once the returning Markanday had put us ahead mid-way through the first half, there was no looking back for us as we continued our unbeaten run in the Under-18 Premier League.

The attacker made no mistake when he was picked out by Clarke just six yards from goal, slotting the ball home to send us on our way to another important win.

Coach’s view

Under-18s Coach Wells paid tribute to the defensive display of his back line and credited their resolute performance as a key reason behind his side’s win.

“I thought Reading put us under pressure until we got that second goal,” he explained. “It was a low-quality game in possession to be fair, so I was a little bit disappointed with us throughout in terms of how we managed the ball and the lack of chances we created.

“Credit to the boys though. We had 15 scholars missing from the squad today for various reasons - some due to injuries and some with the Under-23s - but it shows the depth we have and a number of the Under-16s featured today, so it was a great experience for them.

“The win keeps us unbeaten in the league for the whole season which is a great achievement so far and I know these boys are extremely motivated to continue in that way. Today’s result comes from the way the players in the back half of the pitch applied themselves and the way they defended, so I’m really pleased with that aspect of the day.”