Jones will be gutted. Been on the bench for a while now, Leeds away comes along and he’s playing at Eppleton!
Thought he looked canny in the cup too, ideally get him a national league loan for the rest of the season, if that’s still possible
Sunderland U21s 1-2 Reading U21s Sunderland Under-21s fell to a 2-1 home defeat against Reading U21s in Premier League 2, inside a freezing cold Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground. Harrison Jones’ deflected effort pulled one back for the young Black Cats with 20 minutes remaining, but Jeremiah Okine-Peters and Adrian Akande’s goals on either side of the break were enough for the visitors to claim victory. Graeme Murty opted to make three changes to his starting XI with Harrison Jones, Trey Ogunsuyi and Kel Chibueze returning in replace of Alan Browne, Abdul Abdullahi and Dan Cameron. Olivier Bainbridge was perfectly positioned to clear the ball off the line inside the opening 10 minutes as the visitors continued to put the Sunderland back line under pressure. Luke Bell came close for the hosts on 21 minutes following some neat build-up play by Rhys Walsh, but the defender’s effort failed to force Conaih Boyce-Clarke into a save from 10 yards out. The deadlock was broken on 30 minutes, when Okine-Peters cooly dispatched his spot-kick past Chibueze following a trip on the Reading attacker inside the Sunderland 18-yard box. The Royals doubled their lead on 48 minutes, Akande latched onto a through ball before composing himself and slotting his shot past Chibueze. The Black Cats almost pulled a goal back after a brilliant break from inside their own half, H. Jones playing Walsh through who found Ogunsuyi on the edge of the box, but his attempt sailed just over Boyce-Clarke’s crossbar. Sunderland got themselves back into the match on 72 minutes, captain H. Jones collected Walsh’s pass before emphatically firing past Boyce-Clarke from the edge of the box. The hosts continued to push forward inside the dying embers of the match, but Reading held firm to take the points. The Lads are back in PL2 action on Friday evening as they make the 700-mile round trip to Southampton. Sunderland U21s: Chibueze, Lavery, Bell, Bainbridge, Jen Jones, Jay Jones, Middlemas, Geragusian, H. Jones ©, Walsh, Ogunsuyi. Subs not used: Kindon, Cameron, Neild, Hester, Chungh.
Disappointing result. Strange that Abdullahi didn't make either U21 or First Team squad on the night. Did this get raised post U21 match?
Southampton away at 1200... https://x.com/AcademyOfLight/status/1892892022870331897?t=oll8lBaS7EuGEi4PJ3kVKA&s=19
