Boast hat-trick helps Under-18s to 4-1 win at Birmingham

Oliver Boast’s hat-trick helped our Under-18s to a big win at Birmingham City on Saturday lunchtime.

The forward bundled home inside six minutes before netting twice more after the break to complete a 4-1 victory, Conall Glancy also chipping in with his first Under-18s goal as we moved four points clear at the top of the Under-18 Premier League table.

Connor Reilly was responsible for the home side’s sole reply in the second period, but we were worthy winners overall, taking full advantage of second-placed Chelsea’s home defeat to West Bromwich Albion to stretch our lead at the summit. Our London rivals still have two games in hand – as they have had for much of the last few weeks – but the three points we earned in the West Midlands could prove important in the end-of-season reckoning as we recovered swiftly from the midweek defeat to Crystal Palace in the semi-finals of the Under-18 Premier League Cup to make it eight consecutive league games unbeaten at this level.

Coach Jamie Carr handed a competitive Spurs debut to goalkeeper Farren Doran following his switch from Manchester City last summer, while defender Cayon Hanson made his long-awaited Under-18s bow with an impressive showing off the bench in the second period after missing the entire season up to this point through injury.

We were quickly on the offensive at the Blues’ training ground and took an early lead. Harry Byrne’s cross from the left after a short corner was headed towards goal by Reiss Elliott-Parris, defender Isifu Jawara nodded it off the line but Boast was alive to the situation and bundled the ball beyond goalkeeper Alfie Smith, with Jawara – still positioned underneath the crossbar – this time unable to prevent it from going in.

Tye Hall’s low shot towards the near post was saved comfortably by Smith, but it was 2-0 on the quarter-of-an-hour mark when a great delivery from Boast on the right wing took a slight deflection and dropped between striker Elliott-Parris and left winger Joel Vidal-Philbert, but Glancy was on hand at the back stick to take advantage and open his Under-18s account. Reilly flashed an angled drive over the bar at the other end but we stayed largely in control, Smith tipping away an awkward delivery from Byrne with both Cameron Thomas and Hall firing just wide in separate attempts at goal in the latter stages of the first half.

We scored a key third goal six minutes after the restart to put daylight between the sides, Doran’s clearance down the left collected by Vidal-Philbert, whose delivery from that side caused problems for goalkeeper Smith under pressure from Elliott-Parris at the near post, with Boast converting the loose ball with a shot-on-the-turn into the far corner.

Reilly capitalised on a lapse in concentration in our defence to beat Doran inside the box and pull one back for Birmingham five minutes later, with a great covering block from Oscar Sandiford and subsequent save from Doran preventing the same player from making it 3-2 during a brief spell of pressure from the hosts.

Elliott-Parris squandered a great chance for us just afterwards when he went through one-on-one with Smith but saw his shot diverted wide by the keeper’s right foot, but we did finally bag a fourth mid-way through the second period when Vidal-Philbert’s superb cross from the left was headed home in the centre of the six-yard box by Boast, Smith getting a hand to the ball but unable to keep it out.

It was Boast’s second hat-trick of the season following his treble against Ipswich Town in the Under-17 Premier League Cup in October and saw him move into double figures for league goals this term – he’s now up to 11. It wasn’t his first Under-18 Premier League hat-trick, though – he bagged one for Leeds against Wolves last term while still a schoolboy, prior to his move to north London. Neither side was able to add to the scoreline after that, Boast’s fizzing drive across from the left just too strong for substitute Leon Myrtaj to get on the end of in our clearest opening of the latter stages.

‘A mixed performance’

Coach Jamie saw plenty of positives from the game, but also a number of things to work on: “It was a mixed performance,” he reflected. “We dominated large parts of the first half but although we had a lot of the ball, we didn’t always have a cutting edge. I felt we were comfortable from a defensive point of view and it was just a matter of us maintaining our standards to try and open them up and show enough of a technical level to create those moments to score.”

With a number of players enjoying individual milestones and achievements during the game, Jamie added: “It’s brilliant for Cayon to be back playing after his long-term injury. He’s had a lengthy rehabilitation process and some of the staff have done a terrific job in getting him back up to speed, then Faz (Farren Doran) came in between the sticks and looked really comfortable on the ball, helping us with our build-up. Boasty is obviously happy with his match ball – he’s always hungry to score, which is really refreshing to see, regardless of what position he plays. We just need to continue to work on all parts of his game to make sure that we give him that rounded toolkit that he’ll need for the future.”