Manchester United u19s rounded out the group stage at the Rewe Junior Cup on Saturday by advancing to the second round.
United started the day against SV Rhume-Oder, where Dante Plunkett provided an early lead but the local side proved to be a tough nut to crack with some good defending and goalkeeping stopping United from driving up the scoring.
The group led by Adam Lawrence secured the three points with a 3-0 win in the end after further goals from Yuel Helafu and Junior Brown.
Another local side in JFV West Göttingen was the next opponent with United running the score up to 8-0.
Louie Bradbury led the scoring in the match with four, while Jim Thwaites and Plunkett notched a brace each.
The real test of the day then came against Borussia Monchengladbach, who United also met at the Mercedes-Benz Junior Cup.
Plunkett gave United an early lead after Albert Mills cut out the Monchengladbach keeper Lindsay Gutaj’s pass.
The lead didn’t last for long though, with Gutaj rectifying his mistake within 30 seconds, running upfield to lay off the ball to be finished past Cameron Byrne-Hughes.
The German side took control then, scoring five unanswered goals. Keeper Gutaj got his name on the scoresheet as well with a well-taken goal after arriving late at the back to be teed up from the corner to win the match 1-6.
The group was rounded out with a 3-0 win over 1. SC 1911 Heiligenstadt thanks to goals from Thwaites, Bradbury, and Brown.
There was little to separate United from Monchengladbach and Hamburger SV at the top of the table with all three sides finishing on 15 points but United had to settle for third place due to goal difference.
But United still advance to the second stage on Sunday where they take on FC Schalke 04 and Fortuna Düsseldorf.
United squad: 1 Byrne-Hughes, 2 Kamason (C), 3 Mills, 4 Helafu, 5 Plunkett, 6 McCormack, 7 Brown, 8 Shah, 9 Bradbury, 10 Thwaites
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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.
