Fine goals cap big win at Norwich for Under-18s

Our Under-18s made it back-to-back wins with a 4-0 triumph at Norwich City on Saturday.

A week on from a high-scoring victory in the north London derby, we again hit the goals trail in Norfolk, although it needed a moment of brilliance from Luca Williams-Barnett to get us off the mark amid a slow burner of a first half before we went up through the gears in the second period to make sure of the win.

Samal Bangura’s first Under-18 goal was swiftly followed by Miracle Adewole’s first of the season at this level – although he’s been among the goals in the Under-17 Premier League Cup – before Tynan Thompson finally added his name to the scoresheet after hitting the post with a great chance earlier on.

The result kept us in the running at the top end of the Under-18 Premier League southern division table, but it wasn’t always plain sailing – particularly in the opening half-an-hour. Williams-Barnett had an early attempt cleared off the line by Tyler Williams but aside from that, it was a relatively quiet spell in terms of chances for either team as we faced a battle to take the upper hand. Both sides had strong appeals for a penalty waved away while goalkeeper Sam Archer saved a good shot from Finlay Oligbo, but in the 32nd minute the game sparked into life thanks to the excellent Williams-Barnett who pounced on a loose ball in midfield and evaded his marker as he breezed down the left channel before lashing a superb shot high into the net from a tight angle.

Ajay Tavares crept in behind our defence after a deflection moments later but Archer was out quickly to block his shot one-v-one, while Ellis Lehane and Thompson had near misses for us as the opportunities started to come more frequently.

Seven minutes after the restart, we bagged a crucial second as Williams-Barnett played Lehane in behind, his low shot was saved but Bangura was on hand to convert the rebound at the far post. Thompson was left kicking himself moments later after bursting down the left wing, cutting inside but then hitting the far post with his right-footed strike, but on 64 minutes we did manage to score a third as Williams-Barnett’s floated ball towards the far post was spilled by goalkeeper Henry Bullen and Bangura set up Adewole to rifle high into the net from inside the area.

Norwich substitute Jake Glossop went close while Bullen got just enough on Williams-Barnett’s close-range prod to keep it out, before the determined Thompson finally found the goal he wanted when he again sped forward on the left and found the far corner on his right foot with 11 minutes remaining. Damari Daley and Tavares had late chances for the hosts while Williams-Barnett cracked a long-range shot against the crossbar for us but the final whistle sounded soon afterwards, leaving us to celebrate a hard-earned win and clean sheet.

‘We showed a real togetherness’

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis reflected: “I thought our performance grew stronger in the game. We had to defend well for probably 30 or 40 minutes but we stuck together and I thought with the way we defended collectively, we showed some real resilience. We’ve worked hard on that this week – our determination to keep clean sheets, make blocks and be first to the ball when defending, so we showed a real togetherness at that point and then had a moment of brilliance from Luca Williams-Barnett with an outstanding individual goal.

“In the second half, we went through the gears and then pushed on with some more excellent goals. It was great for Miracle to get on the scoresheet, obviously Tynan as well with another brilliant individual goal and then Samal getting his first goal for the Under-18s… he’s worked really hard in recent weeks and his performances have deserved that, so I was really pleased for him and overall, pleased with the collective display.”