A hat-trick from Crystal Palace forward Ben Casey consigned our Under-18s to their first defeat of the season on Saturday.
In a tough, physically taxing battle at Hotspur Way, our young side competed diligently and took the lead early through Oliver Boast’s first goal in our colours, the striker hitting the post before steering the rebound home.
Palace turned it around with two in two minutes before the break from Casey – both slightly unorthodox finishes – but we stayed in the contest and levelled just after half-time when Boast’s low ball across from the left was turned into his own net by visiting defender Jacob Fasida.
Casey subsequently completed his treble with a fine finish while goalkeeper Dylan Thompson pulled off a couple of excellent saves, but in spite of the final 3-2 scoreline there were a number of positives to take, particularly the maturity shown by the four Under-16s players in action during the course of the game.
Despite a last-minute change to the starting line-up with regular centre-half Tyler Tingey forced to withdraw, we started well and after right winger Miracle Adewole caused problems for goalkeeper Marcus Hill, we took a seventh-minute lead when Boast got away down the left flank, cut inside, hit the far post with a good initial attempt and then swept home the rebound.
Palace came on strong, though, and equalised on 20 minutes when striker Casey chased a long ball that emanated from the right side and just beat advancing goalkeeper Thompson to it, prodding it past him and sending it rolling into the empty net in one movement, despite the best efforts of retreating defender Elijah Upson to keep it out.
Thompson denied Makai Bernard-Ferguson with his leg just afterwards but we conceded a scruffy second almost straight away, Casey losing his footing as he tried to latch onto a ball across the edge of the six-yard box from the left but still managing to turn it over the line. Boast forced good saves out of Hill a couple of times as the first half wore on but the Eagles remained a threat, with key blocks from Epson and Ronny Moncur denying them a third just before the break.
We levelled the game up four minutes after the restart when Boast played the ball across goal from the left looking for Adewole, with Fasida accidentally diverting it home. The latter almost made amends with a fine free-kick that was well saved by Thompson, but just beyond the hour mark the visitors did manage to regain the advantage as Casey surged through on goal and blasted home.
Under-16s midfielder Toju Wellspring almost conjured up something special after some dazzling footwork saw him get a shot away, but his effort crept agonisingly wide of the post and although we continued to play forward, that was arguably the closest we went to taking any points as Palace kept up their assault with Fasida and Casey going fractionally wide while Stuart Odura’s fierce rising shot was bound for the top corner until Thomspon kept it out with a fantastic diving save to his left. We’ve been kings of the late equaliser so far this season at Under-18 level but with Upson unable to turn a cross on target in stoppage time, our hopes of another leveller slipped away.
‘We were pleased with the effort and application’
While naturally frustrated with the final outcome, Interim Under-18s Coach Joe Staunton felt the team’s display was an improvement on the midweek showing against Reading in the Under-18 Premier League Cup: “It was a shame not to get the result at the end of the game, but we were pleased with the effort and the application from the players to keep digging in and working hard to get a couple of goals,” he said. “I was disappointed with how we defended the space from a few longer balls over the top which ultimately cost us two goals, but while we’re obviously frustrated with the result, the performance was slightly more pleasing than Wednesday’s fixture against Reading.
“Palace usually bring their style – they can be quite strong and athletic and play with good detail in behind at times, and I felt we could have dealt with it a little bit better in terms of how we defended the space. We conceded a couple of goals in that regard but it gives us an opportunity to see what we need to work on going forward. At the other end, it was really good for Ollie Boast to get himself on the scoresheet. He shows an appetite – a desperation – to score goals, we can see that in training and in games and he took his goal well.”