Rest up! Excellent chance for Isidor to regain some form then. Hopefully Trey, Finn or Marcus get some minutes.
I'm sure Phil Smith said he's having to miss a game or two due to the concussion protocol. Hope I misheard him.
With Mayenda, Abdullahi, Danns (shock) out you'd assume one of them will make the bench. Interesting Neill only played 60mins today.
Yeah really liked him, think he's probably done now after 2/3 ACL injuries by 19. Hopefully the club sticks by him and gives him a shot though.
] On the subject of strikers, do we need to sign one? Or does that hinder the pathway for some really talented lads already here.
Ideally give Isidor time to get a goal or two , then bring young Finn and Marcus on together last game for 30 minutes, rewarding our young guns and giving us a glimpse of the future. Then hit the playoffs with our first eleven up and running and raring to give it their all. Massive games coming up no two ways about it . OaU
Sunderland U18 7-2 Blackburn Rovers U18 Marcus Neill scored four as Sunderland Under-18s produced a thumping 7-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the U18 Premier League on Wednesday. Neill’s 10-minute hat-trick gave Jordan Moore’s side an early cushion, before Felix Scott gave the young Black Cats a four-goal half-time advantage. Freddie Leatherbarrow pulled one back for Blackburn, before Neill’s fourth, and goals from Charlie Dinsdale and Alex Lienard, secured back-to-back wins for the Lads, amid Aaron Potter’s late consolation. Moore made four changes from the side that eased past Liverpool, with Scott, Archie Lightfoot and Finlay Holcroft all returning from their U21 call-ups. The young Black Cats should have led within the opening minutes, when a teasing cross from Bayley Hester was inches away from Neill connecting with a finish. However, it took Neill only 15 minutes to grab his first of the game, when he flicked the ball over two defenders inside of the penalty area, before poking a finish under the ‘keeper. Neill almost had a second moments later when Tom Proctor slipped it through to the striker, but his shot was aimed wide of the right post. Blackburn were almost level when Patrik Farkas’ shot from the edge of the area was fired narrowly wide of the post. After 22 minutes, Neill had his second of the game when Scott fed the striker in behind, before dummying Luke Thompson and tapping the ball into an empty net. The 16-year-old completed his 10-minute hat-trick three minutes later, when he disposed a cool finish past Thompson. A remarkable opening 26 minutes continued, as Scott side-footed a finish into the bottom right corner for his fourth goal in his last three matches. Both Dinsdale and Liam Hunt almost had Moore’s side’s fifth, but both efforts were off-target. Within five minutes of the restart, the visitors found a response when Frank Vare’s header across the face of goal was poked in by Leatherbarrow. Neill almost had his fourth, when Dinsdale’s cut-back found the striker, but his effort dipped over the bar. The striker grabbed his fourth of the game, and 15th of the season, when Hester’s cross was headed home by Neill. The goals kept coming for the Lads, as Dinsdale drilled the ball into the bottom corner to match his mazy run goalwards. Lienard added a seventh, when a rapid counter-attack led by U16 winger, Jay Brown, found the defender, who applied a finish past the ‘keeper at his near post. Potter added a late consolation for Rovers, but nothing was stopping the young Black Cats, who face a three-day turnaround before hosting local rivals Newcastle United on Saturday (11am KO). Sunderland U18: Trialist, Bell (Lienard 82’), Lightfoot, Hunt, Holcroft, Neild, Proctor (Campbell 79‘), Hester, Neill (Brown 59’), Scott (Forsyth 59’), Dinsdale (Bowman 83’)
Sunderland AFC U18 v Newcastle United U18 Kick Off 11am AOL 1. I Allan 2. G Bell 3. A Lightfoot 4. L Hunt 5. F Holcroft 6. C Forsyth 7. A Chung 8. J Neilld 9. T Proctor 10. C Dinsdale 11. B Hester 12. A Lienard 13. F Robertson 14. J Brown 15. A Bowman 16. L Campbell HT 0-0
