Probably few people expected Dave Hughes Everton Under 21 side to break their duck after a long drive to the North East at Hartlepool but that’s just what they did. The game played on Tuesday night was in the National League Cup against Hartlepool United.
It was one of those “men against boys” contests that often do not end well for the youngsters. The Blues had been on the end of a 6-3 hammering by League One Stockport County in the Football League Trophy in their first run out of the season and
though there is a gulf between League One and National League, there is still also a gulf in the relative physicality.
The young Blues had also drawn in the Merseyside derby and lost in both the League and International Cups so a win was overdue.
The team lined up as below. With captain Will Tamen still injured the armband was handed to Wales Under 19 international, 18 year old Luis Gardner in a show of faith after some improved performances from the defender. Fraser Barnsley, our Northern Ireland Under 21 stopper, got a run out instead of regular ‘keeper George Pickford. There was also a first start of the season for a defender who I like, 17 year old Lewis Evans, and a first start for the more experienced Omari Benjamin up front:
The Blues won the game after withstanding a lot of pressure with a nicely taken finish from Rocco Lambert following a truly perfect long ball from Gardner which arrowed 80 yards into the path of Lambert. There’s nothing wrong with playing a long ball if you hit it with a “5 iron” like the pass below:
Speaking after the game, head coach Dave Hughes told evertonfc.com:
“It wasn’t a classic, but what we’ve said to the players is that if you’re going to have a career, then not every game will be what you want it to look like. The pitch was a bit sticky but that’s not making excuses for us because we didn’t pass the ball at the level we’re capable of. What we did do was show some resilience to deal with balls on top of us and long throws, which are parts of the game that perhaps the players don’t always get to experience.
“We grew into the game and scored a really good goal. It was a super pass from Luis and a great run and finish from Rocco. We had chances to get a second which we didn’t take and ultimately, we need to be pleased that we won the game and kept a clean sheet but also accept that we’ve got some areas where we need to continue to evolve and grow.
“The reality is that you don’t want to lose and you want the players to understand that they’ll need to show different qualities to find a way to win. That was evident in the performance tonight. We’ve started the competition with a positive result. Probably the area that we have to show is controlling the play and dominating the ball and get our attacking players into areas where they can show their qualities and hurt the opposition.
“We didn’t do that as often as we could and you can say all credit to Hartlepool.”
That grounded assessment by Hughes will help the players who nevertheless must have been delighted to get that elusive first victory. Next up is a game on Sunday in London versus Brentford, hopefully another long trip might be rewarded with a first League win? The full highlights are below and you can see how Barnsley, especially, kept the Toffees in the game. A narrow miss by sub Ceiran Loney and Braiden Graham getting crowded out after some good approach work were the highlights. No apologies from me for seeing that pass again!:
Meanwhile, after that fantastic 6-1 season-opening victory against Leeds United, the Under 18s have also suffered two consecutive defeats at home to Manchester United 0-3 and away at Blackburn Rovers, 1-2. The most recent game saw Rodney Aduda (pictured below) as both a hero and villain, converting a 2nd minute penalty but being red-carded in the 57th minute.
Next up for the U18s is a Saturday morning trip to Wolves. Both the youth teams will be hoping for no more red cards as they have had three between them so far this season!
In a final piece of news, highly rated U21 goalkeeper Douglass Lukjanciks has made the familiar route to Southport FC for a loan. His teammate and fellow goalkeeper George Pickford spent time there last season, good luck to him!
