This has to be the most one sided 1-0 win I think i've ever
seen. The first half in particular was pure one way traffic,
as Dave Shannon's youngsters produced some delightful stuff and
created bags of chances. Had it not been for some outstanding
goalkeeping from the Blade's young keeper, the reds could quite
conceivably have reached double figures in this game, such was
their dominance.
The under 17's are unbeaten so far this season, and this
was the first chance I'd had to see them this term. I
was impressed. David Mannix was different class, and looks
to be a real prospect. I've seen him play a few times
before, mainly in last years FA Youth Cup, and he was good then,
but he looks to be really blossoming now.
Mannix scored the only goal of the game, with a brilliant
curling free-kick. Ten minutes earlier he hit an equally
good one which had crashed back off the bar, and ten minutes
after his goal he hit yet another twenty five yard screamer
(this time to round of a fine passing move) which was magnificently
tipped onto the bar by the keeper.
The reds looked good right through the team though.
The lads at the back were completely untroubled, and even the
loss of influential skipper David Raven - another hugely promising
lad - didn't cause any problems. Chris McGrath came on
to replace the injured Raven, and nothing got past him.
The resemblance he has to his old man is really scary.
Paul McGrath was probably the best non-Liverpool player I've
ever seen. The man was amazing, (particularly considering
his drinking habits and dodgy knees!) and if young Chris is
half the player his old man was then that'll do for me.
The two wide men for the reds were also looking good, with
Matty Murray on the right causing all kinds of problems for
the Blades. Murray looks just like Davie Thommo.
He's built exactly like him, and he runs just like him.
He's just as tricky too, although he doesn't appear to have
Davie's short fuse (probably a good thing that though!).
On the left, young Scottish lad Robbie Foy was busy and tricky,
and it was from his mazy run that the reds were awarded the
free kick from which Mannix scored. That came midway through
the first half, and it's amazing that the scoreline stayed the
same throughout.
Mark Smyth and Jason Massie's movement and trickery up front
created several clear cut opportunities. Matty Murray
could have had a couple of goals but for some wayward finishing,
and the keeper did well to deny Mannix and Smyth. Sheffield
must have been delighted to only be one goal down at the break,
whereas Dave Shannon will probably have been a bit worried.
Usually when a side misses so many chances it comes back to
haunt them, but in truth the Blades were pretty blunt, and offered
little attacking threat throughout.
The second half wasn't as lively, although Mannix's passing
and control was a joy to watch. Alongside him Andy Wright
was having an excellent game. He did the simple things
and left the flamboyant stuff to Mannix. In other words,
he did the 'Hamann' role and allowed Mannix to be Stevie G!
Mannix was replaced after about an hour by Stephen Gillespie,
who started to put himself about straight away. He followed
through on a tackle with their centre half (who was at least
six foot five and must be the biggest 16 year old I've ever
seen), and when the lad got up and wanted to make something
of it, unsurprisingly young Gillespie was keen to get away from
him! He earned a booking for his trouble, but I got the
impression that he was just relieved the lad didn't manage to
get his hands on him.
The chances weren't as frequent in the second half, but
there were still some excellent openings created. Jason
Massie turned his marker on the edge of the six yard box, but
could only look on in amazement as the Blades keeper somehow
kept out his left footed shot. A remarkable save that
was. Massie did everything right and 99 times out of 100
he would have been celebrating a goal. Even more unfortunate
though was his strike partner Mark Smyth. After a lighting
burst of speed took him clear down the right, he cut inside
two defenders and hit a beautifully curling shot which from
the moment it left his foot looked in all the way. Sadly
it came crashing back off the post, denying him what would have
been a wonder goal.
Smyth was lively all game, and his pace and control make
him exciting to watch. He and Massie compliment each other
well, and both looked good in this game. The under 17's
score plenty of goals, and it's easy to see why. As well
as they defended though, when you miss so many chances, the
fear is always there that the opposition will sneak a late goal,
and it so nearly happened, when they were awarded a free kick
on the edge of the box in stoppage time. The ball looked
to be on it's way into the top corner, until reds keeper Paul
Harrison - who had previously had so little to do he may as
well have come and stood next to me on the touchline - somehow
managed to claw it out. It would have been astonishing
if the reds hadn't won this game, given how dominant they were,
but they were so nearly made to pay for not taking their chances.
Team:-† Paul Harrison, Stephen Vaughan, Chris Butler, Adam
Flynn, David Raven (Chris McGrath); Matty Murray, Andy Wright,
David Mannix (Stephen Gillespie), Robbie Foy (Carl Clampitt);
Jason Massie, Mark Smyth:
