Posh under 18s beat Watford under 18s for the second time in a week.
The Peterborough United under 18s continued their impressive run of form with a second victory over Watford in a week, the latest success coming at the Nene Park Academy with the Hornets beaten 2-1 thanks to goals from Tye Phillips and Leonardo Da-Silva-Lopes.
It was also the second time in a week that Da-Silva-Lopes had found the net after he bagged the winner in the reverse fixture. The talented teenager kept his place in the team despite the return to fitness of Jonny Edwards and Academy Manager Dave Robertson admitted he had many selection dilemmas ahead of kick-off.
‘It was a tough decision to finalise my starting line-up. They were really good dilemmas to have because I had so many players in good form. Jack Friend returned to the group after travelling with the first team to Crewe on the Tuesday night and he joined three other in-form strikers in Tye Phillips, Leonardo Da-Silva-Lopes and Jonny Edwards, who was returning from injury.
‘Ben Keating has done exceptionally well in place of Joe Hood who has been out injured and that provided me with plenty of options in midfield. Ollie Humphrey has performed admirably in the last three games in place of Ollie Luto who has been suspended. I have some really good competition for places, which in the build-up to the youth cup tie is great to have,’ Robertson said.
Posh created a number of chances in front of goal against the Hornets, who have been free-scoring of late with 35 goals in 11 games prior to meeting Robertson’s men. A 1-0 win away from home was backed up by this success and a lot of hard work went into the preparations for this double-header.
‘Watford are a very strong side, they score a lot of goals and we did a lot of work on our defensive structure ahead of the games. We stuck to the same game plan. We had a Plan A and a Plan B and it worked well. The lads coped with the challenges, their decision-making was very good and I think to get six points from Watford was a testament to the performances that they put in.
‘We tried a couple of new coaching methods ahead of the second game and ultimately, those pictures were crucial to the two goals that were scored. The lads are in a good place going into the youth cup tie with Notts County next week,’ Robertson said.
Posh: Henry, Anderson, Adebayo-Rowling, Robinson, Humphrey, Ward, Marshall, Keating, Da-Silva-Lopes, Phillips, Friend.