A hat-trick from striker Jake Sinclair saw Southampton’s U18s to a 4-1 victory over their Blues counterparts at Playford Road this afternoon. Schoolboy right-back Kyle Hammond netted Town’s only goal as the Blues' two-game winning run came to an end.
The ever-lively Sinclair, the brother of Swansea winger Scott, threatened first on the quarter hour when played in by left midfielder Sam McQueen. After cleverly cutting inside Town central defender George Fowler, a Debenham-based schoolboy, the Saints striker was thwarted by Blues keeper Cody Cropper making a sharp run off his line to block.
The visitors had been on top for most of the early stages but Russell Osman’s men might have gone in front on the break in the 19th minute. Skipper Callum Bennett, at right midfield, played a ball into the path of Tom Winter, striker Jack Marriott helping it on. Winter ought to have tested the keeper but scuffed the ball well over.
However, it was Southampton who were on top for the most part with Joe Whight and Lewis Acott at the centre of the midfield failing to get to grips with their Saints opposite numbers.
On 27, McQueen crossed low from the left and Cory Moore stabbed wide at the near post when he ought to have done better. A minute later, Sinclair was within inches of opening the scoring with a 25-yard strike which beat Cropper but cannoned off his crossbar.
The Blues were doing well to stay on terms and on 35 Saints keeper Will Britt was forced into a rare save when he caught a cross-shot from Town left-back David October.
Southampton got the goal their first half performance deserved four minutes before the break. Right midfielder Dan Bowman got round the outside of Town’s Icelandic centre-half Gunnar Thorsteinsson and cut the ball across to Sinclair, who tapped home from close range.
The visitors extended their lead with the second half’s first real chance in the 51st minute. The impressive McQueen played in James Ward-Prowse, who beat Cropper.
The third Saints goal came five minutes later, right-back Matt Young crossing to the far post where an unmarked Sinclair stooped to nod home his second.
Sinclair might have claimed his hat-trick on the hour mark but Cropper blocked the diminutive striker’s close range effort with his chest.
Town hit back a minute later. Byron Lawrence, one of three schoolboys in what was a Blues line-up much younger than their opponents, whipped over a corner from the right and Kyle Hammond headed home at the far post.
Cropper again saved from Sinclair in the 66th minute as the Saints striker continued to look for his hat-trick. On 78 he went close again, shooting across the face of goal from Jake Stephens’s cross.
The Blues might have pulled another goal back in the 84th minute when sub Mark Timlin burst through on goal but Southampton centre-half Jordan Turnbull dispossessed him with a well-timed tackle.
With three minutes remaining, after the Blues had somehow survived a goalmouth scramble, Sinclair completed his hat-trick, running on to a pass from sub Dominic Gape and cutting the ball across Cropper and into the net from a tight angle on the right.
Southampton had been well on top for the most part and deserved their victory against a younger Town side — Joe Whight, Callum Bennett and Cody Cropper were the only second years involved - who never really controlled the match at any stage.
The Blues did well to hold their opponents until close to the break and on the balance of play and chances, the scoreline was not an unfair reflection of the match. The result takes the Saints to the top of the FA Premier Academy League Group A with Town bottom.
Watching the game were Blues boss Paul Jewell, coach Sean McCarthy and chief scout Steve McCall, as well as ex-Blues Kevin Steggles, Geraint Williams and Paul Goddard, who these days works for an agency, and one-time Town coach Stewart Houston. Current centre-half Ibrahima Sonko caught the end of the second half.
Town’s U16s also lost 4-1 to the same opposition with Irish U15 international Cemal Ramadan, who is set to join the Academy as a full-time scholar in the summer of 2013, scoring the Blues’ goal.
U18s: Cropper, Hammond, October, Bennett (Meikle 67), Fowler, Thorsteinsson, Winter, Acott (Leddy 69), Marriott (Timlin 62), Lawrence, Whight. Unused: Tiofack, Jones.