CONOR McALENY’S first-half goal was enough to give Everton under-18s a 1-0 victory at Leeds United on Saturday.
The win extended Neil Dewsnip’s side’s unbeaten run in the FA Premier Academy League to four matches.
Despite a young line-up featuring several schoolboys players with Jordan Barrow, Tom Donaghan and Adam Cummins making their debuts, Everton were good value for their win.
The winning goal came on 25 minutes as McAleny tapped home from close range following a quick free-kick by Tom McCready and a good cross from Karl Sheppard.
Everton could have scored more with Lewis Codling, in particular, unable to take the chances that came his way. While Sheppard also went close.
In the end, though, one goal was enough and coach Dewsnip said: “We has a very young team again so I’m absolutely delighted with performance and the result. We had five schoolboys playing – Ross Barkley, Jake Bidwell, Jordan Barrow, Adam Cummins and Tom Donaghan – with the last two coming on as subs and playing for the first time. They acquitted themselves well and we were worthy winners in the end.”
He added: “We had a lot of chances. Lewis Codling could, and probably should have scored, while they never really threatened our goal, apart from the odd corner, throughout the whole game.”
Everton will look to extend their unbeaten run to five games they travel to Bolton Wanderers this Saturday (kick-off 11am) before the break in fixtures for Easter.
Lee McArdle is still out with a knee injury and is likely to out for the rest of the season.
