A totally dominant performance. We controlled the game throughout and attacked well when we had the chance.
The only disappointment was that we should've scored more goals
Saved penalties for a living and reffed for a bit.
Currently run EFLO, CoE and OFMC
We needed a top performance after a tough start to the season and came up with a sublime performance against The Bees U23. The first half display is perhaps the best I've seen from this team in years. In the third minute we scored the first of the evening when Emmanuel Airoboma's corner found Paris Maghoma and he headed us a goal up. Ten minutes later Maghoma got himself a brace when he scored from distance. Maghoma was yet again at the heart of the action five minutes before the break when he was fouled inside the box and Oakley Cannonier made no mistake from the penalty kick. We rounded off a perfect first half display with another goal when Jack Darius scored from a free kick. It was our third goal from set pieces. Credit to the set piece coach. Jack Darius added his second of the game early in the second half and we found ourselves 5-0 up by an hour played. 21 attempts on goal, 13 of them on target was the match stats. That tells me that the win could have been bigger but you can't be anything else than extremely proud of the players after such a quality performance.
West Bromwich Albion U23s 0-4 Aston Villa U23s
A comprehensive away win in the local derby meant that both our seniors and U23s had enjoyed 4-0 victories in the same weekend.
In this one both sides were intent on playing and looking to pass it around which made for an entertaining match but we were always on top and a 10 minute spell after the half hour turned out to be decisive. Tom Costello grabbed his second of the season to get the ball rolling before Karamoko Dembele scored his second of the campaign just 2 minutes later. Harry McKirdy seemingly wrapped up the points five minutes before halftime. The second half was a quieter affair but Kane Taylor added a fourth before the hour to remove any lingering hope of a comeback from the home side.
In truth it became a dominant performance from our lads who didn't allow anything, dominating possession and attempts on goal. If anything it should have been more and, after a terrible season last time this has been a pleasing start with three wins in all competitions.
The worrying part is that players are improving at an alarming rate and we may end up in a spot of bother with that sooner than expected if we are not careful. With a lot of games quickly in the U23s we are going to have to keep rotating the side to ensure we maintain our top players for as long as possible. With the skill level of the team this will likely be our last chance to win anything without serious youth investment - so the management of it becomes even more critical than that of the first team. A nice problem to have though...
Wolverhampton Wanderers U23 3-1 Arsenal U23
As expected the Arsenal manager didn't turn up for this one giving us the counter and we were able to dominate the game without too much difficulty. We had the majority of possession and created way more chances. Josh Gidaree opened the scoring - an interesting player who may be one of the few hanging on in within the caretaker manager's plans - the goal certainly won't have harmed him here. Jordan Allan added a second 5 minutes later and then he doubled his tally for the game netting his third of the season just before the hour mark. Arsenal nicked one back in injury time but overall a very satisfactory day for us.
We have started the season well with two good wins but both are at home and the unjust defeat against Sheffield United shows just that we cannot have any complacency. Our U23 side is ok but we still have work to do to become a top outfit and we're working on that. There may even be short term loss of main skill to improve all round which could see results slip. The key aim for us remains to be avoiding relegation and strengthening the side to provide future first team players. If we can pick up a few more wins along the way all the better...
