Phillips double inspires U18s to victory
Liverpool's youngsters halted a run of three consecutive defeats in emphatic fashion by downing Blackburn Rovers 4-2 in their final Barclays U18s Premier League clash before the play-offs.
Tuesday's victory means Neil Critchley's side finish seventh in the northern league group and will face seven games against teams from the southern division between now and the end of the season.
Critchley had nothing but praise for his players as they bounced back from defeats to Everton, Benfica and Newcastle United - all in the space of a week.
Adam Phillips scored twice to hand the Reds a two-goal cushion in the game. The 17-year-old's second was a stunning strike, as he raced onto a bouncing ball to whip a shot into the far corner on the half-volley.
Ovie Ejaria turned home Wade Maxwell's cross to make it 3-0 before Sam Hart, the left-back, burst through the Blackburn ranks, rounded the goalkeeper and, just before he lost his balance, managed to scoop the ball into the net from an awkward angle.
Liverpool were impressive in the tie, and while they let their guard down to leak two late goals, Critchley spoke of a perfect response to a tough run of games from his young charges.
"It was nice for them to play well and to get the win," he explained. "That will give them some confidence and they were deserving of that today.
"We were excellent for 65 minutes. We dominated the game and scored some very good goals. We tired a little bit for the last 25 minutes and conceded two soft goals.
"We didn't see the game out the way we would have liked to, but the performance for most of the match was very, very good. There were lots of positives to take from that."
Liverpool U18s: Firth, Brewitt, Masterson, Whelan (Polgar), Hart, Lewis, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Chirivella (Travis), Ejaria, Maxwell (Nicholas).