21-07-2015: Pickering Town (a) 4-0 (HT 2-0) Crowd (213)

There were a series of four Under-Twenty-One games played in the pre-season period and the first of these was at Pickering Town on Tuesday, 21st July 2015. There was a crowd of 213 at the Mill Lane ground to see United win 4-0. The referee was Jan Suchecki of York and United lined up: Eric Grimes; Mike Taylor, Tyler Denton; Alex Purver, Jack Vann, Jake Skelton; Nicky Ajose, Chris Dawson, Frank Mulhern, Eoghan Stokes, Luke Parkin. The substitutes were Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Jack Turnbull, Robbie McDaid, Tom Lyman, Tom Pearce, Tyla Bell. United were on top from the start and it took just four minutes for the home side to concede a penalty for a foul by George Foster and Chris Dawson opened the scoring from the spot. Just before half-time Leeds doubled their lead when Eoghan Stokes cut in from the right and fired a low right-footed shot on target and despite it touching Arran Reed's foot and hit the roof of the net before Dan Andrews could clear. Leeds finished off the game with two goals in two minutes on the hour mark as first Frank Mulhern was too strong for the Pickering defence as he stabbed the ball past replacement keeper Sam Dobbs and then Eoghan Stokes crowned an impressive performance by getting his second and United's fourth with a low hard-hit shot as Leeds ran out 4-0 winners. Pickering Town lined up: Arran Reed; George Foster, Ben Lock; John Heads, Dan Andrews, Denny Ingram; Callum Richardson, Ryan Cooper, Joe Danby, Lewis Taylor, Mitch Hamilton. Their substitutes were: Wayne Aziz, who replaced Denny Ingram, Niall Gibb, who replaced Ben Lock and Sam Dobbs, who replaced Arran Reed, at half time, and Josh Hutchinson, Ryan Woodhead and Emilio Triumbari, who came on in the second half.

Programme: (Courtesy Steve Barnes)

Teamsheet:

Match Report: Pickering Town: 21-07-2015 : Written by Mike Martin

Pickering Town Football Club NCEL Premier Division : Pickering Town 0-4 Leeds United under 21s : Tuesday 21st July 2015 - 1st team Match details: Kick off: 7.00pm: Competition: Friendly : Venue: Mill Lane : Attendance: 213: Season: 2015-2016 : Match score: Half time score: 0-2: Full time score: 0-4 Officials: Referee: Jan Suchecki. Assistant referee: Paul Ballantine. Assistant referee: Brandon Bishop.

Leeds youngsters too strong as Pikes face toughest test yet.

Pickering Town’s team continued their preparations for the new season with an exacting match against one of the most prolific academies in English football. With Pickering giving games to several trialists, it was always going to be a tough evening against a side boasting several youth internationals. Pickering gave outings for the first time to right-back George Foster, winger Mitch Hamilton and Emilio Triumbari, an Italian-Australian forward who played in the Brisbane Premier League in 2014 and was with Harrogate Railway for a time last season. Leeds started like an express train, earning a penalty after just four minutes for a foul by Foster on Wales U21 midfielder Chris Dawson, who made three Championship appearances last season and slotted the penalty past Arran Reed. After an untidy piece of Leeds defending nearly gave Joe Danby a chance, there followed a period of dominance by the visitors, whose professional fitness levels were clear from the outset. Reed did well in goal for the Pikes, denying Eoghan Stokes before holding a vicious half-volley from Frankie Mulhern. Luke Parkin also had a shot saved before Dan Andrews, in the Pickering defence, did well to tidy up after Nicky Ajose tried to slip Stokes through. Ajose has made more than 150 appearances in the Football League while Stokes and Mulhern are both Irish youth internationals so it was little surprise that Leeds were controlling the game, although Harrison looked lively on the wing for Pickering and in midfield the returning John Heads provided an assuring physical presence. Pickering took until the thirty-fifth minute for a shot at goal, although it wasn’t much of one as Danby floated a free-kick well over Eric Grimes’s cross bar. The hosts were more in the game in the last ten minutes of the first half but still required Reed to produce an outstanding double save to deny Mulhern from close range. Lewis Taylor whipped in a free-kick which Denny Ingram nearly connected with and, on the counter attack, Mulhern pulled his shot across goal. Hamilton, initially caught in possession, did well to win the ball back and strike just over the bar from distance but Leeds doubled their lead just before half time when Stokes cut across the edge of the penalty area from the right wing and struck a low shot which looped up off Reed’s foot and bounced into the roof of the net before Andrews could clear. Paul Marshall made three defensive changes at half-time, with Wayne Aziz replacing Ingram, Niall Gibb coming on at left-back for Ben Lock and Sam Dobbs, signed from Liversedge, taking over between the posts. Pickering began on the front foot and Taylor’s free-kick from deep on the right was headed wide by Aziz. Leeds, though, quickly re-asserted themselves and two goals in two minutes around the hour mark settled the game: Mulhern was too strong for the Pikes defence and poked the ball past Dobbs before Stokes doubled his tally with an impressive low strike, hit with hardly any backlift from the edge of the area. Of all Leeds’s emerging talents on show, it was Stokes who most caught the eye. Pickering now had Ryan Woodhead, Josh Hutchinson and Triumbari on the pitch but were unable to impose themselves on the game. There was something of a concerted late effort to get on the scoresheet: a neat passing move ending with Harrison slicing a shot from Taylor’s delicate lofted pass and Heads struck powerfully just over from Danby’s lay-off. Pickering, though, need match fitness before the season starts at Handsworth Parramore in August and there was no doubt they got a good workout this evening. Matches against fellow semi-pro sides Scarbrough Athletic, Knaresborough Town and Whitby Town ought to provide a more useful measure of how the team’s prospects stand. Pickering Town: Formation: 4-4-2 Leeds United under 21s Line-up (4-4-2) 1. Eric Grimes 2. Mike Taylor 3. Tyler Denton 4. Alex Purver 5. Jack Vann 6. Jake Skelton 7. Nicky Ajose 8. Chris Dawson 9. Frank Mulhern 10. Eoghan Stokes 11. Luke Parkin 12. Bailey Peacock-Farrell 13. Jack Turnbull 14. Robbie McDaid 15. Tom Lyman 16. Tom Pearce 17. Tyla Bell