U21 Professional Development League 2
Team: Taylor, Moore, Adjetey-Brew, Sandiford, Cuthbert, Neill, Brunson, Tarbotton, Vaughan, Oluwabusola, Trujillo
Subs: Fittall, Boddy, Ikoroha, Wiles, Majesty
With a cup tie looming later that day at the home of Hanwell Town, a young Rangers side faced the league leaders, Sheffield United, at the TSG Training Centre.
On a warm and sunny afternoon, it was the Blades who opened the scoring after just four minutes.
Riley McLachlan provided the goal when he belted the ball into the net from around 12 yards, following Harry McGlinchey’s cross from the left.
After Samual Aston’s corner had evaded a number of players in the box, it then went on to glance off an R’s player, and the ball ended up going for a throw-in on the far side.
Then, Chris Eadie set-up Riley McLachlan and the Blades No.10 hooked the ball wide of the target.
As the visitors continued to look for a second goal, a free kick heading for the top corner was superbly pushed away by Kasey Taylor and Riley McLachlan, following up, headed over.
There was a brief stop in play after Zach Giggs was grounded and in need of some attention.
The Blades doubled their lead just before the interval, when Seth Okyere poked the ball home from inside the six-yard box. Half-time: 0-2.
Into the second-half and Rangers’ first attempt came after 15 minutes from their first corner, when Gabriel Cuthbert headed wide of the target.
With Anthony Hayes involved with the London Senior Cup tie in the evening, the U18’s head coach, Tom Charles, made three changes on the hour mark when he introduced Tom Wiles, Giovanni Ikoroha and Harvey Boddy at the expense of Fraser Neill, Teddy Tarbotton, and the captain, Rohan Vaughan, respectively.
After Ashley Trujillo had knocked the ball to Kyreece Moore, the full-back’s low strike was grabbed by Tommy Betts following a slight deflection.
Then, Kalen Brunson’s cross from the right bounced off the crossbar. And a minute later, a free kick from close to the corner flag also came off the bar.
With 31 minutes gone, and against the run of play, Kasey Taylor did well to keep out an angled strike with his feet.
Around 80 minutes, United substitute, Siem Eyob-Abraha, shot just over.
At the final whistle, it remained in a 2-0 victory in favour of the Blades.
The visitors had been fairly comfortable in the first-half, but the young R’s side had grown into the game after the break with a spirited performance against a strong side.
Ahead of the cup tie against AFC Wimbledon, I made my way to Perivale to take advantage of the excellent carvery at the Myllet Arms.
Steve Russell