City Under-18s showcase attacking prowess in league triumph over Forest

Starts to a game don’t get much better than when City found ourselves three goals to the good inside the opening 20 minutes. 

Reigan Heskey, Ryan McAidoo and Divine Mukasa made it 3-0 in the blink of an eye, each with impressive strikes from various spots around the Forest net.  

Heskey continued to flourish in front of goal and scored a second, similar to his first, to make it four before the break.

The second half proved to be a closer affair but Luca Fletcher added his name to the scoresheet with a close-range finish.

Mukasa bagged his second from the penalty spot to complete a fantastic 6-0 win. 

WHAT HAPPENED

The September sun set the perfect scene for the return of club football on Saturday afternoon.

City’s Football Academy played host to our latest home assignment with City and Nottingham Forest looking to secure back-to-back wins and continue the momentum building for both sides.

After a couple of opening exchanges, City began to take control and it didn’t take long for Oliver Reiss’s squad to take the lead.

A commanding run by Heskey in the eighth minute saw the space open up in front of the attacker.

He punished Forest with a forceful low effort which flew past Keehan Willows.

The strong left hand of Oliver Whatmuff denied Zyan Blake who tried to place a right-footed effort, from the left-hand side of the box, into the opposite corner five minutes after the restart.

McAidoo, with a beautiful give-and-go run towards the centre of the pitch, perfectly picked out the top left corner and clipped the underside of the crossbar as he doubled City’s advantage with a sublime effort.  

Almost immediately after the restart, Forest lost the ball and City, now oozing confidence, punished our guests again.

Divine Mukasa picked up the ball on the edge of the area and his 18-yard strike skimmed along the grass and into the bottom right corner to make it three just before the 20-minute mark.

City’s clinical performance in Forest’s third continued to impress. Heskey bagged his second with another darting run into the box with the ball at his feet and impossible to defend.

To end the half, McAidoo’s confident run towards the penalty spot left Forest players trailing. His left-footed shot curled just a couple of inches wide. A solo play that was worthy of a goal.

A flurry of fresh legs saw Luca Fletcher, Femi Fapetu and Floyd Samba added to the fold.

But it would be Forest who would it enjoy more of the ball when the second half began. Whatmuff denied Jayden Powell after he was played through on goal by substitute Isaac Davies.

Just after the hour mark, quick tiki-taka play on the right by recently introduced Kylan Midwood, Rhys Thomas and Samba gave the latter space to unleash a thunderous strike but it fired straight into the body of Willows and away from goal.

Forest began to tire and once again City were quickly back in control. With no need to rush and force errors, Reiss’s team were patient when attacking.

And the patience paid off. A ball into the box from the right wormed its way to the back post and an on-running Fletcher dispatched with ease.

Fletcher was in the thick of the action again immediately after the game restarted. A misplaced pass by David Modupe saw the City attacker pounce. But, as he ran towards the Forest goal, he was deemed to be fouled by Willows and a penalty was awarded.

Mukasa chipped the ball straight down the middle in the closing minutes to make it six, City’s final goal in our most impressive performance of the campaign so far.

HOW WE LINED UP

Oliver Whatmuff earned another appearance in goal and was shielded by a back four of Dante Headley, Leke Drake, Kaden Braithwaite and Oliver Tevenan.

In midfield, skipper Rhys Thomas was accompanied by Divine Mukasa and Finlay Gorman.

Matty Warhurst was tasked with leading City’s attacking line again with Ryan McAidoo and Reigan Heskey offering options on the wings.

CITY XI: Whatmuff, Headley (Fapetu 46’), Drake, Braithwaite, Tevenan, Thomas, McAidoo (Midwood 62’), Gorman (Samba 46’), Warhurst, Mukasa, Heskey (Fletcher 46’).

SUBS: Hudson.  

FOREST XI: Willows, Broomes, Whiteley, Modupe, Boulter, Evans (Davies 46’), Daly (Hamilton 69’), Bradshaw, Powell Brandy 69’), Blake (Clarke 46’), Smith.

SUBS: Bailey.  

WHAT IT MEANS

City move to third in the Under-18 Premier League North standings with seven points from four games. 

UP NEXT

The Under-18s have got a small gap between the win over Forest and our next league game.

We travel to Sunderland for an 11:00 (UK) kick-off on Saturday 28 September.