SVG Under-20 beaten by Liverpool U-18
A St. Vincent and the Grenadines Under-20 team went under to the Liverpool Academy Under-18 team last Thursday afternoon at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.{{more}}
Liverpool romped to a 4-1 victory in front of a relatively good crowd.
Henoc Mukendi, Michael Ngoo and Conor Coady, with a penalty, and an own goal netted by Wendell Cuffy, gave the visitors their win.
The famed Liverpool youngsters produced a stylish display in the heated afternoon conditions.
The Vincentians were able to hold their more structured and tactical opponents, restricting them to the score line to one nil at the half time.
Captain Myron Samuel did some early running, at times putting the Liverpool defenders under pressure.
Samuel came close to scoring at 40 minutes, but this time he was denied by a stunning stop from the Liverpool custodian .
In between the Liverpool team made several forays on the Vincentian goal with some ease, but their efforts did not materialise into more goals.
However, the second half was different as Liverpoolâs Coach Rodolfo Borrell made some changes to his line up.
Immediately on resumption, Ngoo doubled his teamâs tally, with Cuffy turning the ball into his own goal.
By this time, the home team was simply chasing shadows, and buoyed by the Vincentian hospitality, the Liverpool players responded with some showmanship.
Coady, the English Under-18 captain, made it number four, from the penalty spot, after the Vincentian left back, Akiel Howard, deliberately pulled down a Liverpool player in the 18 yards box.
The home team had a consolation when referee Caswell Cambridge awarded them a penalty, to which Samuel obliged.
At a press conference after the match, the Vincentian Coach, Cornelius Huggins, lamented the poor attendance of players to pratice as a defining factor in putting together a better strategic plan against their more accomplished Liverpool Under-18 Academy players.
Huggins, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines defender, praised his charges for their first half showing, but noted that they lost their shape and discipline in the second half, which allowed the other three goals.
Hugginsâ opposite number Borrell, noted that the Vincentians were good in the circumstances, as he recognised their limitations in terms of resources and size of pool of players to draw from.
Borrell said that the effects of the steamy afternoon sun had a negative effect on his players, especially during the first half.
The historic visit by the Liverpool Under-18 Academy was made possible by the Buccament Bay Resorts, located in the Buccament Valley.
Apart from last Thursdayâs match, the Liverpool entourage were part of school tours on Friday, at four schools, the Kingstown Preparatory, the CW Prescod, the Thomas Saunders Secondary and the St. Vincent Grammar School.
On Saturday, it was the turn of another four schools from the South Leeward area in a training session at the Buccament Resort at the site of the Soccer Academy,which has some Liverpool attachment.(RT)
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