Boast scores as U18s draw 1-1 with Palace

Oliver Boast’s goal on the stroke of half-time secured a point for our Under-18s in their U18 Premier League fixture away to Crystal Palace, drawing 1-1.

The hosts, who sit second in the southern section of the division, took the lead through Donte Martin after 27 minutes, who pounced on a misplaced pass and converted past Dylan Thompson from close range.

Palace had the chances to double their lead before the break, but were unable to take them and were punished when Boast was there to push the ball goalwards from close range, beating goalkeeper Lucca Benetton.

Jamie Carr’s side responded well to the goal just before the break and looked the most likely side to claim all three points in the second half, but were forced to settle for a draw, which keeps us in third place on goal difference.

It was a lively start to proceedings in south London as the hosts nearly took the lead in the opening stages of the game through Euan Danaher.

The midfielder rolled the dice from distance, deciding to test Thompson early, hitting the post in the third minute.

What was a fast-paced start to the half transitioned into a tactical period where neither side tested the opposing goalkeeper for at least 20 minutes.

The next chance also fell the way of the hosts after 26 minutes when Stuart Oduro fired into the arms of Thompson, moments before they opened the scoring through Martin.

Palace capitalised on a misplaced pass at the back, with Martin picking up the loose ball and tapping past Thompson from close range.

Raihaan Anderson came close to doubling the hosts’ lead four minutes after Martin’s opener, but rolled his attempt from the left-hand side just wide of the far post.

Palace were made to rue that missed opportunity moments before the break as Boast got on the end of a six-yard box scramble, poking us level with just 30 seconds of regular time to go in the first half.

Carr’s side were boosted by Boast’s leveller just before the break, with a pair of substitutions just before the hour mark helping take control of the match.

Leon Myrtaj and Toju Wellspring were introduced in place of Miracle Adewole and Ronny Moncur, and helped execute a high press which the hosts struggled to deal with.

It gave Boast a chance to double his tally and give us the lead in the 64th minute, coming inside from the right after a turnover in possession high up the pitch, but his attempt was saved by the opposition goalkeeper.

Five minutes later, we created another opportunity from a turnover inside the opposition half. Reiss Elliott-Parris then got to the byline and whipped a ball across goal, but no one in Lilywhite was there to attack it.

Two more changes were made after 72 minutes, with Cameron Thomas and Armend Muslika coming on for Oscar Sandiford and Elliott-Parris as we pushed for a winner.

But the battle ended in a draw with neither side able to find a late goal. The hosts came the closest through David Angibeaud, who put an effort inches wide after 85 minutes, before Thompson got down to deny substitute Milo Bernard with two minutes of the 90 remaining.

12 added minutes were played due to a stoppage in play to give Palace defender Sean Somade medical treatment, who was taken off the pitch on a stretcher.

In the tenth added minute, the opposition were reduced to ten players after Jasper Judd received a second yellow card for a foul on Boast, but the outcome remained the same through the final few minutes.

"This game had tonnes of things that you'll see in the men's game that you probably don't always see in academy football. It's great for our lads to come up against that"

Carr was pleased with the way that his side responded after a disappointing opening 45 minutes: “The second-half performance was pleasing. We saw a lot of things that we wanted to address from the first half in play in the second half, which was great. I think the standout piece for us was the general competitiveness from the boys when we're playing against a team that plays a little bit different style than us. It challenged us in certain areas that we don't always get in our games programme, so it was really, really good for the boys to be tested from that point of view.”

He then went on to explain how a battle like this is a great learning point for the players: “This game had tonnes of things that you'll see in the men's game that you probably don't always see in academy football. It's great for our lads to come up against that, and even in those moments like when Boasty has to tap it in and fight and scramble, and in the skirmishes, we ended up being able to be competitive. There are loads of things to take from it, but also loads to work on.

“There weren’t a million chances for us to convert, but I thought with the amount of set plays we had, we maybe would have created something,” he said.

“Overall, I think, we didn't always show enough quality to create and score enough chances, particularly in the second half when we found that we were on top, and that's probably one of the areas that we'll look to reflect on during the week.”

Attention now turns to the second north London derby of the season at Arsenal’s London Colney on Tuesday, 17 February, where Carr’s side will be looking to make it five games unbeaten in the U18 PL.