U18s report: United 5 Forest 2

Jay McEvoy opened the scoring midway through the first half, before Gabriel extended our advantage with two sensational long-range strikes in the space of five minutes.

Louie Bradbury nodded in our fourth on the other side of half-time, before Riko Robinson pulled one back from the penalty spot.

Noah Ajayi quickly restored the four-goal gap, but it was cut back down to three in the last ten minutes by a Basima Balagizi tap-in.

FIRST HALF

Gabriel perhaps set the tone for an eventful afternoon in the first five minutes, finding an angle to shoot but curling his effort central and allowing Alastair Graham to save it on this occasion.

Nathaniel-Junior Brown tested the gloveman 15 minutes later, as did Gabriel again, with Graham somehow getting down to tip that shot, headed for the bottom-left corner, wide of the post.

Darren Fletcher's side did eventually get rewarded for their strong start, however, when some strong pressing work from Louie Bradbury forced the goalkeeper into a short pass, which was seized by McEvoy, who then slotted home the opener.

That strike opened up the game slightly, and Gabriel didn't need a second invitation. Finding an angle to shoot, he rocketed a long-distance strike towards the top-left corner, clipping the underside of the crossbar before bouncing over the line.

Not content with just that, he added a second to his personal tally five minutes later, this time curling an effort from outside of the penalty area into the opposite corner, giving a diving Graham not chance of reaching it.

United were firmly in control heading in for half-time.

SECOND HALF

The young Reds set about dampening any thoughts of a second-half comeback quite quickly when Brown skipped away from his marker on the right flank, before he found Bradbury in the centre to confidently nod home our fourth.

Rooney, joining as a substitute after playing on an adjacent pitch for our Under-16s the same morning, rocketed an effort towards the goalkeeper just past the hour mark. He parried it as far as Gabriel, who went in search of his third but dragged the shot wide.

Shortly after Ajayi found the playmaker again inside the box, and this time Gabriel rattled the crossbar with his shot.

Ajayi gave away a penalty heading into the last 15 minutes, tripping Zyan Blake inside the box, which allowed Robinson to convert from the spot, sending Cameron Byrne-Hughes the wrong way.

The winger quickly atoned for that momentary lapse, however, when he rushed up to the other end moments later, cut in from the left and squeezed a shot between Graham and his near post to make it five.

Forest's Blake was once again involved shortly after that, this time from the visitors' left, racing to the byline to find a squared pass to Balagizi, who cut our advantage back down to three with a tap-in as we entered the final 10 minutes.

There was a quick burst of momentum for our opponents following their second, but it proved too little, too late for any true sense that a comeback was on.

The referee's final whistle blew not long after, confirming another three points for Fletcher's charges in the U18 Premier League.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Byrne-Hughes; Helafu, Mills, Armer (c) (McCormack 46), Watson; Thwaites (Rooney 61); McEvoy, Gabriel; Brown (B. Nkoto 61), Bradbury (Ajayi 61), D. Nkoto.

Subs not used: Heath.

Goals: McEvoy 26, Gabriel 37, 41, Bradbury 52, Ajayi 78.

Booked: Byrne-Hughes.

Forest: Graham; Broomes, Boulter, Thompson (c), Whitely; Willows (Sutton 55), Djamna (Balagizi 69), Schluter (Samuels 79); Brandy (Robinson 55), Powell, Blake.

Subs not used: Bailey.

Goals: Robinson 76 (pen), Balazigi 83.