U18s suffer Southampton comeback
Liverpool U18s suffered a second-half Southampton comeback in drawing 3-3 at the Kirkby Academy on Saturday morning.
Neil Critchley's side were ahead within five minutes, with the in-form Welsh winger Harry Wilson the man on the scoresheet.
The 16-year-old was expertly slipped in behind the Saints defence by Cameron Brannagan at the end of a slick passing move, and calmly guided a low finish underneath the goalkeeper.
Jerome Sinclair should have doubled the lead after 10 minutes; found with another incisive through ball, this time by Daniel Trickett-Smith, the striker could only direct his effort straight at the 'keeper.
Nevertheless, it was 2-0 in the 14th minute. Ryan Kent squared from the left corner of the penalty area for Trickett-Smith, who wrapped his right foot around the ball to whip a fantastic curler into the corner.
The visitors had the ball in the net on 33 minutes through Marcus Barnes but the linesman waved his flag for offside, before Sam Gallagher thrashed a long-range drive just wide.
Gallagher made no mistake on the hour mark, however, collecting a pass beyond the home defence, touching the ball around the onrushing Ryan Crump and clipping into an empty net.
Seven minutes later, the scores were level - Jake Hesketh notched the equaliser from a close-range rebound after Crump had been forced into a low save, to make it 2-2.
But, on 70 minutes, Sinclair opened his account for the season after an unfortunate mistake by away 'keeper Harry Isted, who completely miskicked at a long ball forward to present the Reds striker with a gift.
There was late drama, though, as a defensive mix-up by the young Reds allowed Gallagher to collect possession and blast a cool strike beyond Crump to seal a 3-3 tie.
U18s team: Crump, Randall, Maguire, Williams, Polgar (Hart), Wilson, Chirivella, Brannagan (Burke), Sinclair (O'Hanlon), Trickett-Smith, Kent.