Adelaide United Youth has secured a much-needed win to keep pace with the top six, dispatching West Adelaide 3-0 in wet conditions at VALO Football Centre on Saturday evening.
An Aladin Irabona penalty and second-half goals from Kusini Yengi and Jared Clark extended the Young Reds unbeaten run to four matches, while grabbing their first victory in eight.
United Youth Head Coach, Paul Pezos, made two changes to his starting line-up which drew with Adelaide City a fortnight ago. Goalkeeper, Dakota Ochsenham and forward Alhassan Toure, superseded Luca Meggetto and Ninko Beric respectively.
It was a tense midfield battle to begin the game, before the visitors were awarded a penalty following a foul in the area.
https://twitter.com/aufc_YouthTeam/status/1144900707926958080
Irabona slotted the subsequent spot-kick in the 13th minute as United held a slender advantage into the break with West dominating possession.
But the lead was soon doubled to begin the second-half of action when Yengi netted his third goal in two matches to make it 2-0 on 50 minutes.
From that point on Adelaide were seemingly in control for the most part and hoping to hold on for a crucial three points that had eluded them since mid-April.
Fortunately for the Young Reds, the result was put beyond any doubt when centre-back Clark bundled the ball home after a scramble in the box from a set-piece with seven minutes left on the clock.
Adelaide move on to 19 points for the season ahead of their clash with Para Hills next weekend.
Adelaide United Youth Reserves
Adelaide United Youth Reserves suffered a second consecutive loss after falling 3-1 to West Adelaide Reserves.
Adelaide United Youth host Para Hills in Round 16 of the National Premier League 2019 season on Saturday, 6 July at VALO Football Centre – The Parks. Kick-off is at 3.00pm. Reserves kick-off at 12.45pm.
