Notts County (U18s) 0-1 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)

Notts County (U18s) 0-1 Doncaster Rovers (U18s)
Football League Youth Alliance
Saturday 10th August 2019

Another game and another impressive three points - Paul Stancliffe’s young guns have certainly got into very positive early-season habits!

After the free-flowing, pass-and-move lesson that was dished out to Grimsby Town in the sunshine at Cantley Park last week, today’s trip to Notts County was winning of a very different kind.

In heavy wind and lashing rain - and it has to be stressed just how atrocious the conditions were, Rovers still moved the ball around very well at times which caused their counterparts plenty of problems.

More impressive though was the levels of concentration displayed in the appalling weather and the work-ethic to get the job done and maintain the great start to the season!

In an intriguing first half - albeit with limited chances, Jack Watson produced what was ultimately the match-winning goal on the half-hour mark - latching onto Lirak Hasani’s floated ball forward, before rounding the ‘keeper and nonchalantly finishing.

The heavens opened after the re-start and, following a period of pressure in which Rovers couldn’t double their advantage with Watson, Elliot Walker and Ethan Bojang all going close, momentum eventually began to shift the opposite way.

Nevertheless, every question which County posed was met with a resilient answer as skipper Ben Blythe marshalled the backline to great effect alongside Nathan Dimou.

Even on the rare occasions when that defensive rearguard was pierced, goalkeeper Kian Johnson never once looked flustered  - showing great feet throughout, varying his output, commanding his box and communicating well with those directly ahead of him.

Johnson’s most meaningful save came as he smothered a powerful near-post shot in the final quarter-hour - moments before the hosts squandered their clearest-opening as a defender headed over from eight yards out, having slipped away from his marker at a set-play.

Rovers saw a penalty appeal turned down as they sprung a counter-attack and Junior Smith went to ground on the byline, before Watson almost sealed the points in a separate break when his floated 10-yard lob shot struck the upright.

Notts certainly won’t be ‘shrinking violets’ in this division this term and even though one or two of their players let their frustrations boil over at the final whistle, once they’ve had a few games to fine-tune certain things, they’ll be more than capable of putting a decent number of points together in this league.

I’ve touched on the positive central defensive partnership of Ben Blythe and Nathan Dimou already as well as Kian Johnson’s display between the sticks and today’s clean-sheet is fully-merited and testament to their efforts.

However, special mentions must also go to Elliott Walker and Lewis Cunningham at right-back and left-back respectively. Both demonstrated the ability to ‘push on’ and offer an attacking presence at different stages but they didn’t leave themselves exposed either - as is what happened twice in very quick succession with Notts’ full-backs at the end of the first period, only for them to be saved once by an offside flag and the other time when Liam Ravenhill put too much flight on his subsequent cross.

In the very early stages when both teams were getting to grips with the wind, Walker always cut-out the danger, had good positional body shape and not once did it look like his man might get a yard or two head-start or even get a run on him. Absolutely excellent work!

He also showed bravery to complete the match after being clattered with a strong challenge inside the Notts County box not long after the re-start.

Cunningham, meanwhile, was always in communication with the backline, fully

 aware that positional sense was crucial and just like Walker, not once did it ever appear that he’d get caught out.

Ethan Bojang was solid enough in the middle. Lirak Hasani provided an assist and was a pain in the backside for Notts with a really gritty, determined and spirited performance - very impressive.

Will McGowan, whilst not having any goalscoring chances compared to last week, offered much creativity against better opponents than last time out and was influential in springing some quick one-two passes which led to attacks.

Junior Smith’s pace always had to be closely monitored, Liam Ravenhill chased down everything and worked hard; being clever enough not to rise to the bait when one opponent had a little nibble, whilst Jack Watson was outstanding.

What caught my eye most about Watson was his upper body strength - demonstrated in the attack when he scored as he also fooled the keeper into advancing to the edge of the box, only for him to end up stranded.

In a move where he clipped the upright late on, he’d done extremely well to get into a goalscoring position; it wasn’t quite a chance out of nothing but more a case of working hard and being persistent to get the better of the defenders when there are undoubtedly other players out there in the world who might have not been as fully-hearted with their effort.

From the two substitutes that were introduced in the closing stages, Charlie Bell stifled things well to shore things up and prevent Notts from breaking - and also earning himself a telling off from the referee and the same can be said for Alek Wolny who held the ball up well at the top of the pitch in his brief cameo.

On the whole, there’s plenty of positives and the boys should be pleased with their work.

Some teams would have quite easily retreated into their shell and whimpered around given the awful weather but there doesn’t appear to be a chance of that happening with this crop of Rovers youngsters!

Onto the next one...

Team: Kian Johnson, Elliott Walker, Lewis Cunningham, Ethan Bojang (Charlie Bell), Nathan Dimou, Ben Blythe, Liam Ravenhill, Lirak Hasani, Jack Watson, Will McGowan, Junior Smith (Alek Wolny). Unused Subs: Ben Bottomley, Max Jemson.

MOTM: Jack Watson.