Norwich City U23 2 Aston Villa U23 1

[Thirsty Lizard 3,158]

Just back from Colney where the U23's kept up their recent good run with a narrow 2-1 win.

An entertaining game with Shae Hutchinson scoring both our goals. Was evenly matched at 1-1 before Villa had a man sent off and we dominated from there on. Louis Thompson played for us, seemed to be a magnet for fouls with three Villa players booked for offences against him and went off in the second half after treatment for an injury. Hopefully just precautionary.

As ever it was good to see the youngsters playing in the same manner as the first team with excellent passing and movement and composure on the ball (although interestingly they man marked at corners and set pieces rather than zonal). 

Players who particularly caught my eye on the day were Archie Mair in goal - imposing, good kicking and one brilliant point blank save. Timi Odusina who was very strong in central defence. Hutchinson, who has got real pace and took both his goals well. Josh Martin who is a beautifully balanced player, clever and skilful. 

Unfortunately the game ended on a bit of a sour note when in the very last play of the game a Villa player went down crying out in agony with what looked like a very nasty injury - hope he's okay. 

[vlad666 203]

24 minutes ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Just back from Colney where the U23's kept up their recent good run with a narrow 2-1 win.

An entertaining game with Shae Hutchinson scoring both our goals. Was evenly matched at 1-1 before Villa had a man sent off and we dominated from there on. Louis Thompson played for us, seemed to be a magnet for fouls with three Villa players booked for offences against him and went off in the second half after treatment for an injury. Hopefully just precautionary.

As ever it was good to see the youngsters playing in the same manner as the first team with excellent passing and movement and composure on the ball (although interestingly they man marked at corners and set pieces rather than zonal). 

Players who particularly caught my eye on the day were Archie Mair in goal - imposing, good kicking and one brilliant point blank save. Timi Odusina who was very strong in central defence. Hutchinson, who has got real pace and took both his goals well. Josh Martin who is a beautifully balanced player, clever and skilful. 

Unfortunately the game ended on a bit of a sour note when in the very last play of the game a Villa player went down crying out in agony with what looked like a very nasty injury - hope he's okay. 

Who would you say is closest to breaking into the first team setup?

[shefcanary 2,392]

Certainly are on a good run, let's hope its catching.  Perhaps all our sides start slowly before hitting top form in the second half of the season.  Good omen for the first team?

[Thirsty Lizard 3,158]

13 minutes ago, vlad666 said:

Who would you say is closest to breaking into the first team setup?

On the evidence of today's game I would say Timi Odusina and Josh Martin. It's very difficult to judge though because we always play a lot of players at under age level. I think four of our starters today at U23 are still eligible for our U18s.

Odusina was a sub for the first team at Sheffield Wednesday last season when we were struggling to meet the home grown rule and Archie Mair was sub for the home game against Villa this season when Krul and Fahrmann were ruled out with injury. 

[Molly Windley 76]

Thirsty, did you see Connor, Paddy or Dave at the game?

I ask because I always read the Pink Un`s reports from the U23 games which are heavy on known pre match facts and filler and short on details of the match itself.  I wonder if any of the reporting team attends them or if they rehash a second hand report from elsewhere.

Appreciate your match report above, I wish that Archant and in some respects the club itself gave better coverage.

 

[vlad666 203]

1 hour ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

On the evidence of today's game I would say Timi Odusina and Josh Martin. It's very difficult to judge though because we always play a lot of players at under age level. I think four of our starters today at U23 are still eligible for our U18s.

Odusina was a sub for the first team at Sheffield Wednesday last season when we were struggling to meet the home grown rule and Archie Mair was sub for the home game against Villa this season when Krul and Fahrmann were ruled out with injury. 

Thanks mate

[Thirsty Lizard 3,158]

40 minutes ago, Molly Windley said:

Thirsty, did you see Connor, Paddy or Dave at the game?

I ask because I always read the Pink Un`s reports from the U23 games which are heavy on known pre match facts and filler and short on details of the match itself.  I wonder if any of the reporting team attends them or if they rehash a second hand report from elsewhere.

Appreciate your match report above, I wish that Archant and in some respects the club itself gave better coverage.

 

I didn't see any of the above at the game Molly, but that isn't to say they weren't there because I was watching the game and not paying any great attention to the crowd. I did notice Michael Bailey there, but only because he was stood a few yards in front of where I was sitting. 

[Dr Greenthumb 746]

1 hour ago, Molly Windley said:

Thirsty, did you see Connor, Paddy or Dave at the game?

I ask because I always read the Pink Un`s reports from the U23 games which are heavy on known pre match facts and filler and short on details of the match itself.  I wonder if any of the reporting team attends them or if they rehash a second hand report from elsewhere.

Appreciate your match report above, I wish that Archant and in some respects the club itself gave better coverage.

 

The club do commentary for the games on Twitter and sometimes the opposition stream the games on YouTube, worth keeping an eye on

[Diane 500]

1 hour ago, Molly Windley said:

Thirsty, did you see Connor, Paddy or Dave at the game?

I ask because I always read the Pink Un`s reports from the U23 games which are heavy on known pre match facts and filler and short on details of the match itself.  I wonder if any of the reporting team attends them or if they rehash a second hand report from elsewhere.

Appreciate your match report above, I wish that Archant and in some respects the club itself gave better coverage.

 

Michael Bailey was there covering the game 😀

Plus there's a match report here

https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/2020/january/under-23s-extend-win-streak-to-three-as-loanees-return-for-academy-action/

Edited January 10, 2020 by Diane

[Midlands Yellow 3,970]

Is Connor Paddy’s son ? 

[Feedthewolf 4,846]

17 hours ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

On the evidence of today's game I would say Timi Odusina and Josh Martin. It's very difficult to judge though because we always play a lot of players at under age level. I think four of our starters today at U23 are still eligible for our U18s.

Odusina was a sub for the first team at Sheffield Wednesday last season when we were struggling to meet the home grown rule and Archie Mair was sub for the home game against Villa this season when Krul and Fahrmann were ruled out with injury. 

Thanks for the report, Thirsty.

What did you reckon to Adshead? I know he is very highly rated but I haven't seen him play yet. How did he look to you last night?

[Thirsty Lizard 3,158]

10 hours ago, Feedthewolf said:

Thanks for the report, Thirsty.

What did you reckon to Adshead? I know he is very highly rated but I haven't seen him play yet. How did he look to you last night?

Adshead is an interesting one. The first thing to say is that he played the full 90 minutes for the U23s yesterday, but he is still eligible for the U18 side so it's clear that we rate him. 

He is quite a small player and although he's not slow he's not really quick either. These days it's fairly rare to find a player of his stature not blessed with great pace who makes it at the highest level (although Emi bucks the trend). 

The really good thing about him is his ability on the ball. He's always showing to receive it and is quite happy to take it in congested midfield areas. His touch and awareness of what is around him look top notch and he is really good at keeping the team ticking over and going forward - taking the ball, knocking off a short pass, going for the return and playing it off again. In that respect he reminds me of how Leitner set the tempo for us in Championship games last season. I imagine he'll be playing for the U18s against Man Utd in the FA Youth Cup on the 21st so looking forward to watching him again then. 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Thirsty Lizard