Monday 18th December 2023 Aberdeen U15 Select vs Perth and Kinross U15 Select Match Report

Report on Aberdeen City Under 15 Select v Perth and Kinross Under 15 Select, National Trophy, Monday 18th December 2023, by Walter Craig

Aberdeen City Nudge Past Perth and Kinross in an exciting game to reach the Semi-final of the National Trophy

Aberdeen City Under 15 Select
Harry Brudenell, Ethan Bruce, Lewis Pirie, Yahya Rahman, Kaden Watson, Somto Adibe, Aiden Smith, Jomi Oyediran, Clark Whyte, Archie Louis, Jimi Oyediran, Cohen Leiper, Demi Adenusi, Calum Ramseyer, Jake Bonner, Archie Robertson, Cole Henry and Jamie Harper.

Perth and Kinross Under 15 Select
Lucas Reid, Ben Brown, Caleb Clark, Ross Gillies, Ben Buchanan, Emil Franczak, Leo Boath, Lucas Gray, Dougal McAdam, Reece Da Silva, Lewis Gallagher, Nathan Buttar, Miller McArthur, Jack Smith, Paddy Ward and Chay Scotland.

Referee J. Sulik

The Under 15 Selects from Aberdeen City and Perth and Kinross locked horns at a sunny Balmoral Stadium in the Quarter Finals of the 2023 – 2024 National Trophy competition.

The visitors won the toss and asked Aberdeen to play towards the Industrial Estate end.

The home team settled quickly and Jomi Oyediran moved into the box from the right and passed to Archie Louis whose fifteen-yard drive narrowly scraped past Lucas Reid’s far post with less than two minutes on the clock.

P & K fashioned a chance in six minutes and Harry Brudenell did well to save the shot but needed to do even better in twelve minutes. A long ball from defence found Reece da Silva goal side of the home defence. No offside flag was forthcoming, but the keeper was equal to it by parrying the striker’s attempted lob and then clearing the rebound.

It was clear even this early that the sides were well matched and midway through the half Aberdeen had a chance to break the deadlock. Good work on the right from Jomi Oyediran and Louis saw the ball fell favourably into the path of Jimi Oyediran but Reid was able to block his shot with his legs and was pleased to see a defender complete the clearance.

Defences remained on top until the last couple of minutes of the half. Firstly, Kaden Watson gathered the ball from a corner but could not manage to get in a shot before the visiting defenders scrambled it clear, and then Louis and Aiden Smith combined to find Clark Whyte who had ran clear of the P & K defence. He kept onside, cut inside a chasing defender before firing a left foot drive narrowly wide.

Aberdeen could justifiably feel that they were a little unlucky not to have converted one of their chances into a goal, but the P & K team has yet to concede in the competition and it was clear to see why.

Half Time: Aberdeen City Under 15 Select 0 – 0 Perth and Kinross Under 15 Select

Whatever was said in the Aberdeen city dressing room at half time, it had the desired effect as it took only eight minutes of the half for the P & K defence to be breached.A mix up in the visitors back line saw a clearance take a deflection off a defender before reaching Cohen Leiper who passed to Louis in the inside left position. He ran powerfully into the box, sped past a defender and left himself one on one with Reid. He waited until the keeper went to ground before calmly lifting the ball over the keeper’s legs and into the centre of the goal.

This prompted a response from P &K and when Louis cleared a dangerous free kick on the right the ball fell to a white shirt on the edge of the box. A low half volley was set to test Brudenell, but the keeper got a strong left hand to it to turn it round the post.

Jomi Oyediran was proving a real thorn in the side of P & K and he set up a chance for Leiper but the ball flew narrowly wide.

Midway through the half a second goal duly arrived. It began when P & K’s Lewis Gallagher sent a dangerous low ball across the home box which was gathered by Lewis Pirie. He made quick progress up the right and found Jimi Oyediran who beat his opponent before entering the box and finishing low and hard into the bottom left-hand corner.

Aberdeen had no time to enjoy their two-goal cushion. Gallagher again beat Cole Henry, carried the ball into the right-hand side of the box, and placed it beyond the onrushing Brudenell.

The game entered the last quarter and both teams went for it resulting in many fouls, desperate tackles, and the inevitable yellow cards. Substitute Demi Adenusi made an instant impact with his pace and energy as the homesters had one eye on the clock which was moving very slowly for them. He combined well on the left with Whyte and Smith taking over in midfield to send Jimi Oyediran clear on goal. Reid jumped into him on the edge of the box receiving a yellow card for his trouble.

Captain Watson sent the free kick narrowly over the bar. With time running out Henry shielded the ball out of play only to be confronted by Gallagher who pushed him and was given a second yellow for his actions.

Aberdeen City managed to see out the six minutes of additional time and win a first quarter final since the team of 2020 beat Ayrshire at Kilwinning. Dundee or North of Scotland will provide the semi-final opposition in early 2024.

Final Score: Aberdeen City Under 15 Select 2 – 1 Perth and Kinross Under 15 Select