U18 Report: Saints 6-1 Leicester City
Southampton Under-18s finished their season in style and returned to the top of the Under-18 Premier League South after a 6-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.
Early goals from Thierry Rohart-Brown and Nick Oyekunle put Saints on their way, and Harry Gathercole scored a third shortly after half time.
Leicester responded through Lorenz Hutchinson, but a big win for Saints was confirmed as Tino Goremusandu, Gathercole and Sufianu Sillah Dibaga all scored in final quarter of the match.
Saints will win the Under-18 Premier League South title if Aston Villa fail to secure two or more points from their final two league fixtures.
The first shot of the contest came from Leicester forward Kirsten Otchere when he drove towards the edge of the box and dragged an effort wide.
However, Saints soon took an early lead when good pressure inside the Leicester penalty area saw Rohart-Brown steal possession and place his left-footed shot into the net.
The home advantage was soon doubled after 25 minutes when good play down the right from Hansel Adjei-Afriyie and Sillah Dibaga saw the ball cut back to Oyekunle, with the striker controlling and duly dispatching his 27th league goal of the season.
Andrew Surman’s side almost took a 3-0 lead into half time when Hansel Adjei-Afriyie fired narrowly wide across goal, but Saints had been comfortable in a first half with no real action for Oscar Abbotson in goal.
The positive play from the hosts continued into the second period and they netted a third goal when Gathercole turned home from close range.
Saints remained in control of the game and did not let their levels drop despite the scoreline, searching for further goals to fully confirm their victory.
It was almost 4-0 when Gathercole fired a low shot that was cleared off of the line at the far post, and then Sufianu Sillah Dibaga lofted his shot over the bar.
Against the run of play, Leicester looked themselves a foothold in the game by scoring from the game’s next attack when Lorenz Hutchinson turned home a low cross from close range.
However, a similar goal then saw Saints make it a three-goal lead once again. Sillah Dibaga sped past his marker on the right and did well to stay on his feet after being clipped before setting up Goremusandu for a simple finish.
They ended the season in style by continuing to press and scored twice more in the final 10 minutes.
It 5-1 on 84 minutes when forward Gathercole netted his second of the afternoon after being put through on goal through the centre and calmly finishing with his left foot.
The lively Sillah Dibaga then rounded off the scoring when he sprung through the Leicester defence once more and took the ball past goalkeeper Jake Donohue before slamming into an empty net.
The win for Saints means that they finish an excellent season on 45 points, with a record of 13 wins, six draws and five losses.
Saints: Abbotson (Richardson 77), Adjei-Afriyie, Dobson-Ventura (Frederick 62), Okonola-Matthews, Trialist (Umeh 77), Williams, Sillah Dibaga, Rohart-Brown (Martin 55), Oyekunle (Goremusandu 45), McMullan, Gathercole.
Subs not used: James.
Goals: Rohart-Brown 8, Oyekunle 25, Gathercole 47 84, Goremusandu 68, Sillah Dibaga 86
Yellow cards: Rohart-Brown
Leicester: Donohue, Toko, Khela, Okolbire (Boothe 85), Gray, Diallo, Aideed, Donnelly (Omobolaji 45), Hutchinson, Otchere (Owusu 62), Daniels.
Subs not used: Marson, Motsi.
Goals: Hutchinson 66
Yellow cards: Okolbire
