Sheffield Wednesday U18 1-3 Birmingham City U18

Birmingham City’s young development team ventured to Sheffield to carry on their impressive run of form as of late. They are really looking like a good team at this level and that is down to the way that Spooner has them playing.

26 goals in 20 games sounds very impressive for a team. However, this isn’t a team’s stats, this is Northern Ireland’s talent Ronan Hales’ stats. He has really impressed this year with a couple of hat-tricks as well as a 5 goal haul earlier in the season. However, what I like about him is that he scores all different kinds of goals and is very calm when he has the ball.

The game started quite brightly with both teams having a couple of chances. McFarlane managed to dribble beyond the goalkeeper but could only hit his shot against a lunging defender due to a tight angle. Then Sheffield managed to get one on one with the Blues’ goalkeeper who did really well to stop the shot with his legs.

The first goal was a simple but effective team effort from all involved. The ball was passed along the midfield before a great bit of skill near the by line resulted in a pull back for the unmarked Hale in the box to sweetly side foot the shot into the top corner of the net. A really good goal and on the balance of play, Birmingham City deserved to be 1-0 up.

Sheffield Wednesday scored in the next meaningful attack of the game. The play got switched onto the right flank. His cross was whipped in and evaded all of the defence. This meant that their striker could pick his spot and a slight deflection took the ball away from the goalkeeper. Unlucky in the end, but Birmingham needed to regroup and go back to basics.

The second Blues’ goal of the game was one of real quality. With the owls sitting back, it left space for the ball to be played out from the back. This was in the form of a delightful chip onto the arced run of Hale. His control was touch tight and this meant that he could position his body and roll the ball beyond the advancing ‘keeper into the corner of the net. An absolute goal of sheer class.

The next goal was about sheer determination. The ball was won in a scrappy exchange in the middle of the park before being threaded through to Hale on the left wing. He outpaced the defender before sliding a left footed shot across the ‘keeper and into the bottom corner. All 3 finishes were superb and it meant that the 3 points were going back to Birmingham after a very good team performance.