A Sunderland prospect has been quietly impressing during the first loan move of his young career.
A Sunderland youngster has endured a ‘character building’ experience during the first loan move of his career - but has now settled into life in the fourth tier of non-league football.
That was the verdict of Ashington joint-interim manager Mark Ellison as he assessed the fortunes of Black Cats academy goalkeeper Ben Metcalf after he agreed to spend the rest of the season on loan with the Northern Premier League East Division club. The 19-year-old has been a regular in Sunderland academy sides in recent seasons and he penned his first professional contract last summer as a reward for a string of impressive performances at Under-18s level.
Ben Metcalf has signed a professional contract with Sunderland. (Photo by Sunderland AFC)placeholder image
Ben Metcalf has signed a professional contract with Sunderland. (Photo by Sunderland AFC)
Metcalf progressed into the Black Cats Under-21s setup earlier this season and made his first start in a Premier League Cup win against Norwich City in October before landing a first start in Premier League 2 in a 2-0 loss at Nottingham Forest weeks later. The Northern Ireland youth international secured the first loan move of his young career when he joined Ashington last month - but he had a chastening experience on his Colliers debut as his new side crashed to an 8-0 home defeat against newly-crowned NPL East Division champions Redcar Athletic.
However, after being named on the bench during a 2-1 loss against Emley days later, Metcalf kept three consecutive clean sheets and has quietly gone about his business with the Woodhorn Lane club. There was further reward for his progress recently when the Black Cats youngster landed a maiden call-up to the Northern Ireland Under-21s squad - although he was not named in their squad for 3-0 defeat against Germany on Friday. That call-up meant Metcalf missed Ashington’s 1-0 defeat against Dunston UTS - and Colliers joint-manager Ellison has revealed the Sunderland prospect’s unexpected reaction to missing out for his loan club.
The Colliers joint-interim manager told The Echo: “Ben’s first game was Redcar Athletic and it was character building, they were my exact words. We actually had a conversation with Jonny Maddison at Sunderland and said I was taking him out for the next game. I said we were playing Emley and I wasn’t sure my type of performance we were going to get and I was just trying to protect him a little bit.
“I don’t think they were too happy but Matty (Alexander) came in and got injured and Ben went on a little spell where he was absolutely brilliant. He was nervous at the start but he gets on with the lads, his Dad comes in and has a pint and when I spoke to him, I was over the moon with him going away (on international duty). He was devastated because he wanted to play against Dunston but he’s been great for us. We have six games left and I think we will need two goalkeepers, especially over the Bank Holiday weekend.”
Metcalf will hope to gain his first Under-21s cap when Northern Ireland face Latvia on Tuesday before returning to Ashington ahead of their visit to Northern Premier League East Division rivals Hallam on Saturday afternoon.
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