Adam Birchall was pleased with the way our under-18s rose to the challenge as they came from behind to beat Norwich City 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
We started the game well, dominating the first 20 minutes, but it was the hosts who got the opening goal at Colney Training Centre when Finlay Corke converted from close range.
Our young Gunners came out fighting in the second half though, and goals from substitutes Ceadach O’Neill and Maalik Hashi secured a winning start to our U18 Premier League South campaign.
Adam Birchall was pleased that we were able to face a difficult test and come through with a victory.
“I’m really pleased with the game, really pleased with the challenge that Norwich gave us today, it was something a bit different that we weren’t really expecting. We had a lot of the ball and at times we struggled to break them down and that was good, it meant that we could really work on our attacking play.
“Conceding early as well through a set piece in the first half meant that it became even more important that we used the ball well and credit to the boys, because they showed excellent mentality to get back into the game and stay calm.
“It’s hard as a young player when you’re playing against teams that drop into a low block a lot and the challenge was to try and get into the box a bit more with the ball and I thought we did that really well and the subs made an impact.”
Birchall’s substitutions were a big talking point after Saturday’s game. Our under-18s head coach made a triple change on the hour mark, and all three players introduced either scored or assisted.
Teshaun Murisa, Ceadach O’Neill and Maalik Hashi were all introduced and all three players were involved in both of our late goals. Birchall put this down to their understanding of the game.
“As the game went on, it became clearer to the players and also to us as staff what needed to be done. I think from crosses generally we didn’t have enough threat in the box, from crosses outside the box.
“So the challenge really was to make sure that we’re trying to enter the box with the ball in different ways with our wide triangles, our wide players combining and I thought when they came on they really understood that and showed a lot of patience and technical quality to do it.
“The other thing is moments when Norwich would be dangerous in counter-attacking, it’s important that Teshaun when he came on that he managed those moments and helped the team with that and I thought he did that really well.”
After a winning start to the season, Birchall is keen to put the lessons learned in Norfolk into practice against Southampton next weekend, in what will be our under-18s first home game of the 2025/26 season.
“We build on the learnings of this game, I’m sure it will be a different type of game, but there will be moments that will be quite similar, so we want to see link learning with that.
“We want to get back on the training ground as well, working on the stuff we want to work on this week and try to implement it into the game next week.”
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