Under-18s fall to defeat at Reading

Our Under-18s fell to a 2-0 defeat away at Reading in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Verrell George was on the scoresheet with a brace for the hosts, opening the scoring eight minutes in before extending the Royals' lead on the hour mark.

An uncharacteristic performance from Stuart Lewis' side saw them fail to score for the first time this season as they suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions for the first time since October.

Lewis made eight changes to his side, including starting three schoolboys as well as first starts for recent arivals Dan Batty and Luca Furnell-Gill, who came up against a Reading side which featured players who’ve racked up nearly 800 minutes for their senior side this season.

The Berkshire side took the lead with the first chance of the game as Blake Irow clawed a long-range effort off the line, only for George to follow in from close range, tucking the ball into the bottom right corner. Two minutes later, Tynan Thompson almost levelled proceedings - a powerful effort from outside the box forced a strong save from James Sharlott to keep it out. Miracle Adewole also had an effort saved in the opening half an hour, as the hosts also saw Luke Howard’s free-kick whistle past the post in what proved to be the final clear-cut chance of a quiet first-half.

A double change at half-time saw us in the ascendency in the opening stages of the second period, with Ellis Lehane and Thompson having shots blocked whilst Elijah Upson also headed wide. 

George, however, doubled the Royals’ advantage on the hour mark, taking advantage of Upson losing his footing to charge into the box and fire into the bottom left corner past Irow. Our man between the sticks then made a huge save to stop Reading extending their advantage, getting down quickly to save from George at point blank range, whilst the follow-up effort was blocked.

An attritional battle followed for the next 25 minutes before substitute Reiss Elliott-Parris carved out our next chance. Linking up with Thompson down the right, he worked his way into the box before firing goalwards, but his effort was narrowly wide of the near post.

That proved to be the final chance of the game with defeat leaving our youngsters sixth in the Southern Division table, six points behind leaders Crystal Palace with four games in hand.