Grimsby Town (U18s) 0-2 Bradford City (U18s)

Grimsby Town (U18s) 0-2 Bradford City (U18s)

EFL Youth Alliance

Saturday 9th April 2022

The battle to be crowned EFL Youth Alliance (North-East) champions for the 2021/22 season is over after Bradford City sealed top spot with this win over title rivals Grimsby Town at Cheapside!

The Bantams are deserved champions and clinched the title thanks to goals from Dylan Youmbi and Charlie Wood in what was another assured performance that perfectly highlighted the qualities they possess as a group.

Grimsby aren’t stupid and they’ve been up near the top of the table for several months for a reason, but they were second best in this game to a Bradford team who’ve been a pleasure to watch on the few occasions where I’ve been fortunate enough to do so.

Not only do they score goals for fun but the way they retain the ball, ping it around, play, press together and work tirelessly (particularly out of possession) is a joy to behold. They seem like a good set of lads with everyone on the same wavelength and pushing for the same objective which is testament to the attitude they have amongst themselves as much as good coaching! 

They’re blessed with talent and perhaps the best compliment I could give them is that they’re without doubt one of the best teams I’ve seen in the Youth Alliance (North-East) for many years - and that’s backed up by statistics!

Match Report

Bradford’s quality is all over the pitch and having dictated much of the possession and territory during the opening half-an-hour or so in this game, forcing Grimsby to maintain their shape, they were unfortunate not to take the lead before they actually did.

Freddy Jeffreys (who put in a ridiculously good shift) was often the architect with some piercing and precise through balls and he created the first opening inside five minutes with a neat ball out wide to Louie Chorlton whose right-wing delivery into the box was headed narrowly over by Charlie Wood.

Although Jeffreys’ inswinging corner a few minutes later was perfect nobody gambled enough to make the connection, but the youngster in the No.4 shirt continued to pull the strings and find team-mates as the hosts were pushed back and forced to stay alert for lengthy spells early on, whilst a few more openings got created.

Bobby Pointon was lively at times through his nifty skill and jinking movement and having won a free-kick, his initial attempt came back off the defensive wall before his speculative effort went over. Harvey Rowe then went closer when he crept in unnoticed at the far-post to get on the end of a cross and forced Mariners ‘keeper Declan Dennis into a smothering save.

Grimsby’s defensive resilience was good but a momentary switch off, having just conceded another corner, led to the set-piece being taken both short and quickly. A goalmouth scramble unfolded when the ball reached the area with someone in a Bradford shirt striking the post, big Mariners centre-back Alex Markham producing a goal-line clearance before Dylan Youmbi (who was right in and amongst things) eventually hooked the ball wide in acrobatic style after it had been quickly recycled!

That was a big let off and with the half-hour mark having come to pass, Bradford might have wondered just quite how they weren’t already ahead given they’d comfortably had 75% of the possession and territory up to this point.

It didn’t stay 0-0 for too much longer as the visitors eventually got the breakthrough goal on 37 minutes. Another finely-weighted through ball (sadly I didn’t see who played it!) to the wide-left area released Cole Roberts and he got the assist with his pass inside to Youmbi. The striker initially had work to do to get goal-side of his man but a clean touch ensured that a shooting angle opened up for him and he fired home with aplomb to make it 1-0.

The Bantams’ scorer could soon have scored a second goal but this time, having received the ball on the back of some excellent build-up play involving Pointon and Roberts, he watched on as his low scuffed shot from inside the area was deflected wide. The subsequent corner was dealt with so it remained 1-0 by the interval.

With Grimsby having been on the back-foot (and knowing they needed to turn things around to keep their own title hopes alive), they changed things up at the break and introduced Harry Milner for the second period.

Milner’s impact wasn’t bad and in the period from the re-start up to the hour mark, the Mariners had their best spell of the game. They tried to force the issue as much as possible by winning more second balls and being more adventurous, and they conjured up a decent chance from a corner with a near-post header that forced Bantams ‘keeper Heath Richardson into a fingertip save.

Gradually, however, the Bantams settled themselves down, adjusted, and regained the initiative to the point where they probably saw more of the ball and created more chances during the final half-an-hour.

In quick succession, Youmbi stretched high to reach a deep back-post cross but wasn’t able to get his header on target in a half-chance, Pointon then forced a routine stop the Mariners ‘keeper in another move, before Jack Wilson cut inside and unleashed a speculative attempt into the side-netting as the visitors sought to add a degree of comfort to the scoreline.

Grimsby were on the back-foot again by the midway point in the second half and in another Bradford move, Markham put in a crucial tackle to prevent a shot. The Bantams picked up the loose ball, retained it excellently and the same passage of play culminated with Chorlton getting on the end of a delicious cross and hitting a sweet volley just over.

Youmbi also had a couple more half-chances as the visitors again went close and as precious minutes began to ebb away, there were brief stoppages as players from both teams required treatment at separate times.

The Bantams knew a second goal would be so important for them and it finally came with around five minutes to go. More piercing and positive build-up play culminated in Wood being slipped clean through on goal and his ‘dink’ over an advancing ‘keeper and into the net was as splendid as it was sumptuous! Mobbed by his joyful team-mates, they knew they’d clinched the title!

Bradford could even have bagged a third goal late on when they got in-behind once more only for Markham, whose initial backwards header was intercepted, to recover and put in a perfectly-timed challenge at the very same moment a shot was about to be unleashed.

Ultimately, that mattered little and the celebrations long after the final whistle, once Grimsby's team had left the pitch, showed what it meant to the Bantams squad - and fair play to them because they’re thoroughly worthy league champions!

Grimsby Town: Declan Dennis, George Sims, Will Hodgson, Aaron Braithwaite, Jamie Bramwell, Alex Markham, Shakeel Brown, Evan Khouri, Edwin Essell, Harvey Tomlinson (C), Louis Adams. Subs: Harry Milner, Henry Moore, Louis Boyd, Tom Zerboni, Harry Thorpe.  

Bradford City: Heath Richardson, Louie Chorlton, Noah Wadsworth, Freddy Jeffreys, George Thewlis, Harvey Rowe (C), Bobby Pointon, Charlie Wood, Dylan Youmbi, Cole Roberts, Jack Wilson. Subs: Harry Ambler, Oliver Norman, Yahaya Tunkara, Ian Kamga, Isaac Robinson.

Bradford City Thoughts

What’s evident to me, having watched this team a few times this season, is that this group of youngsters is the best that Bradford is likely to ever have on its books!

Different players have stood out at various points when I've seen them and that should highlight the depth and quality they've got in their ranks! They’ve hammered opponents (including Mansfield, 10-0, and Rotherham, 7-1, recently), they've played attractive and good high-pressing football and quite honestly they're one of the best Category 3 teams I've ever seen!

In this game, Freddy Jeffreys was excellent. He oozed a level of class and composure, dictated lots of things, his passing was precise and he was my ‘Man Of The Match’. Bobby Pointon (a tremendous player who is rated highly by other players across the division!) also put in a good display and he's got so much talent, creativity and qualities as has Cole Roberts (who is tricky and has had good games), whilst Dylan Youmbi is a natural goalscorer who’ll be happy with his scoring exploits this season.

When you supplement that talent with experience and composure offered by Harvey Rowe (steady and confident on the ball), Louie Chorlton (everything you’d want in a modern day full-back), Charlie Wood (who performed well on loan at Ossett United recently) and Oliver Sukienicki (who didn't feature but has been heavily involved across the season) then it’s clear that there’s the crux of a damn good team for the future. All of these players will get better with age and they've already set a high benchmark indeed.

There’ll be other players who've stood out in games I've not seen and Martin Drury and the rest of the coaching staff will ultimately know what’s what in that respect but my gut-feeling is the club should do everything to try and establish some sort of U23s set-up for these lads. Their attitude and application is perfect (and if it wasn’t they wouldn’t have just won the league by some distance), the coaching, mentoring and development has obviously been very good - it’s backed up by results and performances, and whilst it isn't practical to give a contract to every single scholar, there’ll never again be a crop together at the same club at the same time who are so good in so many ways - whether it be individually or collectively, technically and tactically, or just good characters. The contribution is vast and that can only be applauded.

Even if any U23s set-up is more of a ‘B’ team model - similar to Huddersfield Town and it’s just entering the Central League, Premier League Cup and West Riding Senior Cup, plus the Papa John’s Trophy, plus loans and experience in training with a first team squad each day, it gives these lads game-time, more development time in a good environment and it keeps them together.

I've watched plenty of youth football to know these are quality players who are worthy of that extra investment from the club and when this team is looked back upon through retrospective eyes in a few years, it’ll be evident just how good they are.

Well done to them on being crowned league champions because it’s thoroughly deserved!

I know every group of players enjoy setting records and beating statistics and one which might be useful to know with just two games left to play is they've currently scored 64 goals. My records only go back eight years but the only team in the North-East to have scored more in a season in that period was Chesterfield with 67 (in 2015/16). Can they break that record too?

Grimsby Town Thoughts

Even though they were second-best in this game, Grimsby’s team have had a good season and they shouldn’t get too down-hearted about only finishing as runners-up because in any other year, without such a ridiculously strong team at the top of the table sweeping all before them, they’d have probably been the champions instead.

When I watched them in pre-season away at Brigg Town, straight away I could see their quality and I knew they’d have a good year - and it’s been no surprise that they’ve been amongst the strongest teams in the league. Quite similar to Bradford, it’s easy to tell that they have a lot of good lads with good attitudes who’ll work hard and do all the right things to give themselves the best chance of achieving success. If you know football, you can spot the characteristics attributes a mile off.

It was announced on Friday that four players have received professional contracts; those being Aaron Braithwaite, Edwin Essel, Jamie Bramwell (who did a quality 50-yard ball to feet on the switch late on) and Harvey Tomlinson - and well done to them because they've all earned those deals.

They all featured in this game and one of their team-mates who impressed was Alex Markham (who is taller than I initially thought). He made a few decent contributions - including a block on the goal-line and two goal-preventing tackles in the second half, and did as well as he could against such quality opponents. He possesses a threat at offensive and defensive scenarios and is just a solid all round defender; not perfect yet by any means, but there’s good attributes in him already. He’ll only get better with age and more exposure in games such as this where he’s put under pressure by good quality opponents.

As a team Grimsby, collectively, worked their socks off to maintain their shape and structure because Bradford were that good at retaining and moving the ball around. The Bantams were excellent at the press too and it meant the hosts were sometimes feeding off scraps when they did get the ball forward (and it was a difficult game for their attackers). There’ll have been some big distances covered by those in midfield for sure, comfortably 12k or 13k, but it'll have been a highly worthwhile game in terms of learning and gaining something from it.

Of the four players who’ve just signed contracts then I've got a lot of respect for Aaron Braithwaite. I probably wanted to see a bit more from him in this game and that’s by virtue of the fact I rate him highly and know he can make this team tick (as he’s done on other occasions). He's got a good stature and physique, can read a game intelligently and makes things look simple and I'd have in the team at Doncaster Rovers (who I watch regularly) in a heartbeat. His off the ball contribution was good (demonstrated by good closing down and an interception in the centre circle about 10 minutes in), and I didn’t mind the naughty little push on a Bradford player, just outside of the referee’s eyeline, not long after he'd returned to the pitch himself having had treatment for a whack in the face. There were quite a few short passes he played too, particularly in that period just after half-time, and I’m looking forward to watching him again with the benefit of elevation from the stands, when Grimsby play Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium at the end of this month. In the long-term, I really hope he gets his chance in the first team, goes on to fulfill his potential and enjoys his football because he’s a good player. And I like good players... although I'm not sure about the rocking from side to side technique (through nervousness) which he did in the interview to announce his contract! That's definitely something to work on!

The dynamic of the game meant some of the others weren’t able to influence matters as much as they’d have wanted, but again, Grimsby shouldn’t be too harsh on themselves because they’ve achieved plenty this season and even though it’s not every week where the opponents can ‘zip it’ and ‘pop the ball around’ as well as this Bradford team, they’ll have all learned a great deal from this game which stands them in good stead for their remaining fixtures.