Trent Kane-Doherty netted a hattrick at Kirkby as the young Reds comfortably maintained their impressive start to the U18 Premier League season with a rampant win over Sunderland.
Liverpool U18s 7-1 Sunderland U18s
U18 Premier League, AXA Training Centre
October 7, 2023
Goals: Nyoni 3′, Kane Doherty 27′ 45+4′ 51′, Bradshaw 75′, Danns 77′ 81′; Robertson 90+2′
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side made light work of their sixth league game of the campaign in a goal-fest at the AXA Training Centre.
It was a case of men against boys from the outset, with the hosts registering 62% of possession throughout the contest.
The Reds struck first inside just three minutes as Trey Nyoni brilliantly bagged his third goal in three league appearances from outside the area to keep up his impressive start to life on Merseyside.
It didn’t take long for the lead to double, with Kane-Doherty getting the first of his three goals on Saturday afternoon just before the half-hour mark.
Things didn’t go all the Reds’ way early on, with Nathan Morana called into action to prevent Josh Robertson from opening the visitors’ account, but it was predominantly one-way traffic.
He then made it three right before the interval before Liverpool went on to move through the gears in the second period.
HT: Liverpool U18s 3-0 Sunderland U18s
The break didn’t help the visitors, with Kane-Doherty completing his hat-trick shortly after the resumption of play to put matters comfortably beyond doubt with around 40 minutes still left on the clock.
Jayden Danns was denied a penalty shortly after when he was brought down by Sunderland goalkeeper Monty Conway, with the referee choosing to overlook the challenge.
It didn’t stop him, however, as he turned provider for James Bradshaw to steer the ball home and make it 5-0 with a quarter of an hour still to play.
Danns then joined the goalscoring party himself moments later to continue his run of scoring in every fixture so far this season.
He quickly made it a brace by getting on the end of a fortuitous bounce to make it 7-0 from close range and round off the scoring for the hosts, but things weren’t quite finished there.
Sunderland got themselves a late consolation goal when Robertson ruined the Reds’ clean sheet with a cleverly worked solo goal in stoppage time.
It was a minor blip at the end of a comprehensive victory for Liverpool U18s, who have now won five of their opening six fixtures in the U18 Premier League and sit just three points behind Man United on top spot.
Fulham are up next after the international break at Kirkby, where Bridge-Wilkinson’s men will bid to extend their winning run to five consecutive games.
Liverpool: Morana; Furnell-Gill, Kelly (Gyimah 46′), Lucky (Giblin 76′), Pitt; Trueman, Figueroa (Bradshaw 46′), Pennington; Danns, Nyoni (Lambie 82′), Kone-Doherty
Subs not used: Misciur
Next match: Fulham (H) – U18 Premier League – Saturday, October 21, 11am (BST)
