Liverpool under-18s went down to a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.
With so many players away with the reserves in Holland on Friday, on international duty or recovering from injury Liverpool agreed to play the FA Premier Academy League contest as an under-16s fixture. Coach Hugh McAuley handed over the reigns to his U16s colleague Dave Shannon.
Despite a slow start, Liverpool played well in the second half and were slightly unlucky not to grab a point.
They went behind just a minute before half-time when a shot looped in off full-back John Flanagan.
The defender made amends in the second half when heading home the equaliser from Adam Dawson’s corner.
But with 15 minutes left goalkeeper Chris Oldfield was deceived by a free-kick and allowed it to slip in for the winner.
With only a handful of players with any experience in the U18s side, Shannon was reasonably happy with side’s efforts. He said: “The game was played in really strong winds, blowing from side to side and it made it really difficult for both sides.
“It looked like it might be heading for a draw, until our keeper Chris Oldfield, due in part to the wind, let a free-kick slip through his hands, which was unfortunate because before that he had made some excellent saves.
“It was a scrappy game because of the conditions. We were very poor in the first half. We were under the cosh for the first 15 minutes. We weathered that and Chris made a couple of good saves during that period. We came more into the game and second half was a much better performance. We were disappointed not to come away with the draw, but Sunderland had a few more chances than us.”
He added: “It was a great experience for the lads. Normally they don’t play for points, which was different for them. It is just a shame we didn’t get any. The U16s will be the new scholars coming in next season so it was valuable experience.”
Liverpool complete their Academy League fixtures this week, looking for the four points to guarantee a third-placed finish in the North West section.
McAuley’s side play their final home match of the season against Sheffield United at the Kirkby Academy this afternoon (kick-off 2pm).
Then on Saturday they travel to Bolton Wanderers for their last match before the two-legged FA Youth Cup final with Arsenal.
McAuley said: “Dave (Shannon) was quite pleased with the overall performance at Sunderland, who are a very good side at this level. Obviously we are looking for the points to finish third and it is a shame we couldn’t pick up any. But against Sheffield we will have a stronger team out with mostly the U18s. We will still have a couple of schoolboys playing because Christopher Buchtmann and Lauri Dalla Valle are away on international duty. Tom Ince and Nathan Eccleston are in the squad but won’t start.
“We have a chance to pick up some points and then hopefully we can finish off well against Bolton.”
Liverpool full-back Buchtmann has been playing a key role in Germany’s march to the semi-finals of the UEFA U17s European Championships.
The youngster scored in the German side’s 3-1 win over Turkey in their opening match. He then set up three of Germany’s goals in the 4-0 crushing of England.
Buchtmann is ruled out of the final group match with Holland this evening after picking up a second yellow card against England.
Striker Dalla Valle has been away on international duty with Finland ahead of their participation in next month’s UEFA U21 European Championship.
Key Youth Cup players David Amoo, Steve Irwin, Dean Bouzanis and Daniel Ayala all played a part for the reserves in their 1-0 friendly defeat at Ajax on Friday.
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