Williams hits treble to sink Liverpool Under-18s

Jaden Williams bagged a hat-trick to give our youngsters a winning start in this season’s Under-18 Premier League Cup at Liverpool on Saturday.

The striker netted twice in the lead-up to half-time before completing his treble nine minutes after the restart, with the hosts only able to muster a late consolation from Louie Koumas as we secured a 3-1 victory to put three early points on the board in the group stage of the competition.

There was further good news in the second half with the appearance off the bench of influential central midfielder Han Willhoft-King, who has been out with an injury since the start of April.

We made a bright start but it wasn’t until the 40th minute that we took the lead when Max McKnight’s throw-in from down by the corner flag on the right side was flicked by a defender to Tom Bloxham, he in turn nodded down into the path of Williams and the forward produced a neat piece of skill to twist and turn away from danger before cutting the ball back across goal into the far bottom corner.

It was 2-0 in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Bloxham again involved as he latched onto the ball in the box and turned it into the path of Williams as he went to ground, the latter taking a touch on his right foot before drilling home on his left from close to the penalty spot.

And by the 54th minute, Williams had his hat-trick as Bloxham’s corner was missed by everyone in a red shirt in the box and Will Andiyapan knocked it down for the forward to convert from close range.

Williams, Riley Owen and Mikey Moore all had further opportunities to score with Koumas pulling a goal back for the hosts four minutes from time, but by that stage we had done more than enough to secure the points ahead of a home clash with Wolves on matchday two next month.

‘It’s been great for Jaden to work alongside Jermain Defoe’

“I thought we produced a dominant display, had a good style of play and were effective in both boxes, which we’ve been working on this week in training,” said Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis. “I was really pleased for Jaden – he was one of those who epitomised how well we’ve trained during the week. We’ve been fortunate as well to have had Jermain Defoe working with us – he’s been sharing his knowledge with all the players but it’s been great for Jaden to work alongside him and take some of that knowledge and guidance. It was great for him to get the hat-trick today and I thought he was outstanding.

“We had two Under-16s players who started, Mikey Moore was excellent, the forwards looked dangerous and the two centre-backs showed a willingness to block shots and put their bodies on the line, so it was an all-round good team performance and I thought we were thoroughly deserving of the win.”