Manchester United U21s opened their 2025/26 campaign with a trip to Tamworth in the National League Cup.
But the night was cut short in the 45th minute when a clash of heads left United’s Sekou Kone on the ground.
After initially attempting to stand to his feet, Kone was ushered back to the ground by United’s medical staff.
The Malian midfielder received treatment on the pitch for more than 20 minutes before eventually being stretchered off the field of play while holding a mask to his face.
Match abandoned
The game was initially suspended while Kone received treatment.
Due to safety regulations, the venue must have an ambulance on-site for the match to take place.
With only one ambulance at the ground, which was used to treat Kone and subsequently take him to hospital, a replacement ambulance was required to resume the match.
Ultimately after a 30-minute postponement, the match was abandoned due to the organisers being unable to secure a replacement ambulance in time.
Match events
Nearly the entire first half was played which saw United control the majority of the proceedings, with the young Red Devils enjoying 90% of the possession after 15 minutes.
Captain Jacob Devaney played a fantastic cross field pass to James Scanlon, who found Zach Baumann on the overlap with a clever back heel, allowing Baumann to drive into the box and canon a strike off the crossbar.
In the 18th minute, United hit the woodwork again, this time from the right as Jaydan Kamason got forward and saw his cross deflected off the post.
Tamworth provided some threat of their own later in the half, particularly from set-pieces.
One such corner was punched away by Will Murdock but not far enough as it was hooked back towards goal and hit the crossbar.
Tamworth then countered just after the half-hour mark, forcing a good save from Murdock before Devaney blocked the rebound.
Baumann was United’s most dangerous player, and almost provided the breakthrough when he drove inside from the left wing and looked to pick out the bottom right corner.
An outstretched hand from Jas Singh kept the effort out though to keep the score level at 0-0 before the match was ultimately abandoned.
It is expected that the match will be rescheduled at a later date.
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Colm Murphy
A football obsessed Canadian who moved to England to enjoy the beautiful game. Colm has been keen follower of Manchester United’s famed academy since seeing a fresh faced Adnan Januzaj for the club’s u18s and has been writing about football with a focus on youth development for over 10 years.
