Moors Academy side got their new FA National Youth League season off to the perfect start on Wednesday when they defeated Wath Academy at The Brewery Field.
Matty Dolan’s youngsters took inspiration from being able to play their fixture on the Club’s main pitch to register a dominant performance and a 5-2 triumph over the North Division One new boys.
Ethan Docherty struck a clinical hat-trick and Ollie Griffiths hit the net twice as Moors marked their season-opener with an eye-catching result on home soil.
It was a positive start to the game for Dolan’s side who began moving the ball around well and gaining control of the encounter against their visitors.
However, it wasn’t until the 29th minute that they made their dominance tell when Docherty broke away o goal and produced a wonderful finish from 25 yards across the goalkeeper.
Griffiths then made an instant impact after coming off the bench when his mazy run was brought to an end with a clumsy challenge which resulted in a penalty. Docherty confidently tucked the ball home from the spot to double Moors’ lead.
Wath came out fighting after the break and pinned Moors back for a period at the start of the second half and keeper James Brown was called into action to make a catalogue of astonishing saves.
That resolute defending got its rewards on 65 minutes when Docherty broke away on the counter-attack and showed great vision to play a square ball across to Griffiths who finished well for 3-0.
Docherty was proving a real thorn in Wath’s side, and he completed his hat-trick three minutes later when he once again broke the visitors’ back line before producing a calm finish past the keeper.
To their credit, Wath kept on playing and they grabbed a goal back but Moors continued to control proceedings and made it 5-1 on 78 minutes. Some brilliant football which began with keeper Brown saw the ball worked all the way down to the final third for Griffiths to score his second of the afternoon.
Wath managed to grab another consolation goal late on when they curled a wonderful free-kick beyond Brown to make it 5-2 but the points stayed in County Durham.
“I thought the lads did really well,” said a delighted Dolan afterwards.
“There are obviously loads of things to work on, but this is the first game.
“The new lads coming in made a huge difference; Ethan got his three goals and then Ollie had a big impact from the bench but the whole team played well.
“I think they are starting to understand the things we’re asking of them a bit more now and the fourth goal underlines that progress because they were really brave to play out from the back and through the pitch. That’s important for their development to see that sort of thing working so well.
“They were fantastic throughout and they looked like they enjoyed the occasion of playing at The Brewery Field, which was a nice touch from the Club, so all in all, it was a brilliant afternoon.”
Full Time: Moors 5 Wath Academy 2
Moors: Brown, Houlahan (Dodds 50), Stapleton (Yates 60), Neely, Blair (Lynch 60), Robertson, Tate (Oliver 60), Beattie, Oakes, Docherty, Hope.
