Academy Weekly round-up 21 to 29 March 2022

Two-game week for Under-18s

A stripped-back U18s squad with several absentees due to international call-ups allowed a number of U16s to gain valuable late-season experience at a higher age group, as Travis Binnion’s team defeated Sunderland 1-0 last Thursday.

Ethan Ennis continued his good goalscoring form to make the breakthrough for United at the Academy of Light, and his excellent 40th-minute curling finish proved the difference in the U18 Premier League clash in the north east.

United XI v Sunderland: Hanbury; Kambwala, Bennett (c), Aljofree, Pye (Murray 62); Jurado, Forson, McAllister (Curley 46), Ennis; Hugill, Norkett (Lawrence 62).

It was a young U18s team that took on Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday lunchtime, too, with Harrison Parker and Ethan Wheatley both making debuts at this level as substitutes. A ninth-minute knuckleball effort from Harrison Wood put Rovers in front after nine minutes, cannoning in off the right post, before Joe Hugill equalised for United, finishing from a tight angle after rounding the goalkeeper. After an even first half, Blackburn raced into a comfortable lead after the 70th-minute mark, scoring thrice in quick succession for a 4-1 win.

United XI v Blackburn: Wooster; Lawrence (McAllister 29), Kambwala (Parker 75), Aljofree, Murray; Jurado (c), Oyedele, Curley (Wheatley 61); Forson, Hugill, Ennis.