 "I'm pleased to have scored three goals today and also with the clean sheet from Brandon Hall on his debut," said Duncan. "There were still some individual mistakes which I would like to iron out, though, and Brandon has made a terrific double save at the start of the second half to keep it at 2-0. Gillingham gave us a tough game today." Hall, a first-year scholar on loan from Charlton Athletic, was drafted in on Thursday after Daniel Bentley learned that he would be travelling with the first-team squad, ironically to The Valley. The 16-year-old hails originally from Lewisham, but is based in Gillingham, and gave a good initial impression. The first action arrived at the opposite end to Hall after just two minutes as the Shrimpers took an early lead in bizarre fashion. Marcus Milner latched onto Callum Whittaker's long ball down the right flank and centred hopefully into the penalty area, where unchallenged Gillingham skipper Essam slotted past his own goalkeeper. Asante was involved in the youth team despite featuring on the bench recently for the senior squad, with forwards Harry Crawford and Duane Ofon-Acheampong both suspended, and he saw a stabbed shot blocked after attempting to turn home George Smith's downward header on ten minutes. Hall was forced into a close-range save when Josh Sargeant slid onto a right-wing cross, and he showed good anticipation midway through the first half when racing outside of his penalty area to clear at the feet of the pacy Nathan Nyafli. Blues continued to probe, however, and Asante's robust challenge for a pumped ball forwards meant that the visiting goalkeeper's headed clearance was all the more impressive. The second-year scholar was soon the centre of attention again as he received the ball on the edge of the penalty area in the 30th minute. Turning inside the box, he was tripped and the referee pointed towards the spot. Asante brushed himself down before sending the 'keeper the wrong way to make it 2-0. For a brief period, Southend threatened to run rampant such was their attacking flair with Smith hanging up a left-wing cross for Jamie Dennis, whose fierce shot was deflected past the post. Dennis then held up the ball before finding Smith just before half-time, the midfielder offloading to Asante who scooped his shot off-target. The second half was in direct contrast as the Shrimpers made a sluggish start and were indebted to a good defensive display during the opening quarter-of-an-hour. Essam attempted to make amends for his earlier own goal with a powerful header that was cleared off of the line by Duran Reynolds before Hall's spectacular double save. Having parried out a strong initial effort, the custodian bounced back to his feet to stretch and claw away the follow-up with his back-line then converging on the loose ball to keep it from the goal. A Gills midfielder then flashed a low shot across the face of goal before Blues captain James-Lewis helped to relieve the pressure by racing clear of the Kent club's defence. He rounded the 'keeper but, in doing so, the midfielder ran wide and instead of shooting he had to cross for Smith, who nodded past the left-hand upright. There was an identical header wide from a Gillingham forward at the other end which allowed Southend to stretch their lead twenty minutes from the end. James Stevens' free-kick was cushioned into the path of Dennis by Marcus Milner and, when his shot was charged down, James-Lewis drilled the follow-up into the bottom right-hand corner from 25 yards. During the closing stages, Reynolds watched on as his header was deflected wide, whilst Dennis and substitute Alex Woodyard both fired narrowly off-target. Meanwhile, Hall made sure of his clean sheet as he pushed out a long-range effort, contributing to the Shrimpers' eventual 3-0 success. Southend United U18s: Brandon Hall; John Owinja, Callum Whittaker, Duran Reynolds, Teddy Nesbitt; James Stevens (Abiola-Daramola 89), Jamie Dennis; Marcus Milner (Kane Ferdinand 80), George Smith (Alex Woodyard 75), Merrick James-Lewis; Kyle Asante. Goals: Essam (o.g. 3), Asante (31 pen), James-Lewis 70. Cautioned: Dennis (68 - simulation). Thanks to the Shrimpers Trust website for the reprinting of these reports, for the Trust's own youth section, go here: www.shrimperstrust.co.uk/home.asp?page_id=10 |
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