Peterborough U18 vs Fleetwood Town U18

Peterborough United Under 18s resume service on Saturday afternoon (1pm) hosting Fleetwood Town in the first of their Easter double header in the Professional Development League.

Posh Under 18s will be on the hunt for a return to winning ways, as they enter an important week ahead of their cup final meeting with Sheffield United at the LNER Community Stadium.

Jimmy Unwin’s side – affected by injuries in the camp – lost 2-0 at Coventry City in their last outing, while the regular Under 18s have started to find their rhythm in the older age bracket, recording a second successive victory on Wednesday.

Saturday’s opponents have had a season to forget, sitting at the foot of the table, with the 5-1 loss to Brentford serving a stark reminder of their struggles.

Our youngsters came out on top in the reverse fixture, as Nathan Aikins, George Holley, Bolu Shofowoke and Max Beech all found the net on the northwest coast.

TEAM NEWS   

Jimmy Unwin is expected to put out a similar squad to the side the lined up earlier in the week, with Nathan Aikins being the only injury concern, picking up a knock during the week.

THE OPPOSITION   

Fleetwood sit rock bottom in the northern section, having picked up 17 points from 26 league matches. Mark Yeates’ young Reds have seen five victories, two draws, and 19 defeats over the course of the term, sitting at the lower reach of the table.

FROM THE MANAGER   

Professional Development Phase (Under 18s) Lead Coach Jimmy Unwin said ahead of the game: “We’re looking forward to the game, as usual. Fleetwood do the same as us – they have a young approach, so it should hopefully be a competitive game and hopefully an opportunity for more youngsters to gain experience at this level."

UPDATES  

Updates of the game will be available on The Posh Academy X account.   

VENUE   

The fixture will take place at the idverde Training Ground.  

Bolu Shofowoke netted twice for Peterborough United Under 18s in the loss to Fleetwood Town on Saturday afternoon.

Fleetwood may have had a bit of struggle of late in the league, but they were clinical in front of goal and punished another incredibly young Posh Under 18 side.

In truth, the Reds were good value for three points having camped inside our area for stretches of the afternoon – but, it should be said that the scoreline is hard on our young side made up of Under 16s.

Both teams employed a similar 4-2-3-1 formation, but our youngsters failed to take control in the early moments – and were punished ruthlessly.

Fleetwood set their stall out early, and in turn, ANIMASUAN found the net on six minutes, meeting a ball flashed across the face of goal.

Then in the 17th minute, O’BOYLE made it two with a simple finish past Ben Westcott, before ANIMASUAN added a third – and his second - three minutes later.

Max Beech looked to reduce the deficit, finding an extra yard to roam forward, but his goal-bound effort was flicked away by Adam Slater, before the ball fell to George Holley – who put too much on his strike from 25-yards.

But the visitors were in no mood to sit back and protect their lead, surging forward once more; this time, Jake DOHERTY arrived on the left, hanging a leg at the ball to extend their advantage.

Our youngsters then tried to make up ground, using the wide options as an outset to attack, who worked an angle for Shofowoke to take aim – being denied twice in quick succession.

The action didn’t let up after the break, as Luke Gilbert’s unfortunate back pass escaped Westcott to add a fifth.

Oliver Bellzia dirtied his gloves on the hour mark, meeting Olly Arber’s header equally – who looked to follow suit after Animasuan had struck the woodwork from a similar position minutes beforehand.

In cruise control, the visitors were caught napping at the back as Beech curled one towards goal, forcing Bellzia to save low to his left, with SHOFOWOKE arriving on the follow-up.

Then, in the space of four minutes, Fleetwood notched up three more goals, with Lucas TAYLOR netting twice.

Refusing to roll over, SHOFOWOKE pulled one back for his side, rounding Bellzia, before ARBER added his name to the scoresheet, meeting Holley’s delivery with five minutes left on the clock.

Posh: Westcott (sub Bucknor 89min), Crozier, Joseph, Holley, Arber, Gilbert (sub Fraser 80min), McWilliams-Marcano (sub Dagne 80min), Christoudias, Shofowoke, Beech, Fitzpatrick (sub Mlityalwa 63min).

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