ACADEMY: Revenge as Liverpool youth team beat Barnsley

Mar 18 2008

TOP scorer Nathan Eccleston and 16-year-old starlet Adam Pepper were among the goals as Liverpool under-18s secured an excellent 3-0 win over Barnsley at the Kirkby Academy on Saturday.

Hugh McAuley’s side head to Middle East for the Jared tournament in buoyant mood after Saturday’s win.

Despite dominating, Liverpool didn’t make the breakthrough until the second period. But it was worth the wait with a fine goal from Swedish youth international midfielder Astrit Adjarevic, who beat two defenders before firing in from the edge of the box.

Then young star Pepper scored his first goal for the U18s when he was set up by Eccleston. Eccleston then had been prolific before Christmas, but hadn’t scored in the Academy League since the derby draw at the start of January. But the England youth international finally added his 18th of the season after being set up by David Amoo for his 18th of the season. McAuley said: “It was a good win. It really was the finishing off of how we have been playing for the last couple of weeks really. We have been playing well, but not scoring goals – against Barnsley we did.

“We started in a similar manner to how we have been playing. In the first half we played well, but didn’t have the finishing touch. It was a hard game and Barnsley worked hard. But in the second half we pushed on a bit more and scored three good goals. It was just reward for the effort for the boys for the past few weeks. It was exactly what we were looking for before we go away for this tournament.

He added: “Young players are up and down. It is a learning curve, but they have had experiences now in the league and youth cup and we are pushing on well towards the end of the season. There is a lot more evidence that they are gelling together and picking up the ideas we work on, on the training ground.

“Two under-16 players – Jack Metcalf and Adam Pepper – played again and did very well with Adam scoring his first goal. We are using the last few games to bring in a few players who will be in the squad next season and it is working well.”

McAuley’s side head off to Abu Dhabi to play in a five- team tournament over the Easter break in Academy League fixtures.

Other sides involved in the tournament include Spanish side Atletico Madrid, Brazilians Fluminese, Genarva from Argentina and hosts Al Wadka.

The Liverpool squad travel tomorrow and play four matches in all. Their first is on Friday, then again on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Once they return they will be back in league action on Saturday, April 5 when they take on Derby County at the Kirkby Academy (kick-off 11am).

Coach McAuley said: “We want to finish the season strongly. This will be a good tournament. They will be a bit older than most of our lads, but it will be a good experience to test ourselves. Hopefully we can do well and end the season on a positive note when we get back.”

LIVERPOOL UNDER-18s (v Barnsley): @Oldfield; Scott, Metcalf, Kennedy, O’Connor; Amoo, Highdale (Awang 85), Adjarevic, Kacaniklic; Pepper (Parsonage 80), Eccleston. Subs: Hansen.

LIVERPOOL UNDER-18s (squad to travel to Abu Dhabi): @Hansen, Oldfield, Metcalf, Kennedy, O’Connor, Amoo, Highdale, Pepper, Dalla Valle, Pourie, Ajdarevic, Eccleston, Collins, Scott.