United 1 Southampton 3: Ruthless Saints punish new-look Reds for rookie mistakes

August 22nd 2009, 11am
Trafford Training Centre, Carrington

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Manchester United U18s	1-3	Southampton U18s

Tunnicliffe 17	–	Keegan 49
–	–	Preen 52 (pen)
–	–	McNish 80

 
United’s new-look Under-18 side were given a harsh lesson in the realities of academy league football this morning after dominating long spells of their opening day clash with Southampton and still conspiring to fall to a 3-1 defeat.

With Carrington bathed in sunshine, things looked bright for a team containing seven new scholars when they took an early lead through a superbly-crafted goal from Ryan Tunnicliffe, yet a disastrous start to the second half saw the pendulum swing firmly in the Saints’ direction, as costly defensive mistakes handed goals to Jordan Keegan and – from the penalty spot – Garyn Preen.

The Reds poured forward in search of an equaliser but the visitors’ defence held firm and Callum McNish produced the goal of the game on the counter attack to clinch all three points for the boys from the South Coast.

United 4 Huddersfield 1: U18s complete pre-season prep with resounding win

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August 15th 2009, 11am
Trafford Training Centre, Carrington

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Manchester United U18s	4-1	Huddersfield Town U18s

Morrison 1, 29 (pen)	–	???? 67
King 4, 42 (pen)	–	–

 
United’s U18s finished their pre-season campaign with a very comfortable 4-1 victory over Huddersfield Town at Carrington this morning.

Altrincham 0 United 2: Tenants get one over on landlords again

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August 4th 2009, 7.45pm
Moss Lane, Altrincham

	–
Altrincham FC	0-2	Manchester United XI

–	–	Dudgeon 13
–	–	own goal 89

 
Australia’s cricketers may have escaped with a draw in the third Ashes test yesterday but there was no such luck for captain Ricky Ponting’s adopted football team at Moss Lane this evening, as Altrincham ultimately went down 2-0 to a United reserve side playing a rare away game at their usual home. A bumper crowd of 1772 guaranteed the hosts a useful payday and got to see a closely-contested game between the Blue Square Premier side and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United second string, who just about merited the victory earned by goals from Joe Dudgeon and the unfortunate James Smith, who put through his own net with a minute remaining.

Milk Cup 2009: Reds reign again in the Coleraine rain

There was a distinct sense of deja vu in the air this evening as Paul McGuinness’ side took to the field for the Milk Cup final in exactly the same sort of atrocious Coleraine weather they experienced as they won the competition last season, and while there wasn’t quite the same dominant, swashbuckling performance that we witnessed 12 months ago, goals from Michael Ngoo and Etzaz Hussain ensured there was ultimately the same result – a Manchester United victory and more silverware for the Old Trafford trophy cabinet.

Milk Cup 2009: Brady fires Reds into the final

United will go head-to-head with Sheffield United in tomorrow’s Northern Ireland Milk Cup final after overcoming Fenerbahce 2-1 in a tense and incident-packed last four clash at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The Turkish side had the better of the opening exchanges and took the lead through Semih, but the game swung in a dramatic two minute spell at the end of the first half that saw Joshua King equalise for the Reds and Fener defender Okan sent off for handball on the line. Skipper Robbie Brady missed the resulting penalty, but went from villain to hero in the second half as he grabbed the crucial winning goal seven minutes from time to send United into their third successive final.

Milk Cup 2009: Reds hold their nerve to dispatch Desportivo on penalties

It was nailbiting stuff on the north coast this evening as United’s Milk Cup hopes were kept alive with a dramatic 6-5 penalty shootout victory over Desportivo Brasil at the Limavady Showgrounds. After a hard-fought seventy minutes that saw the deadlock remain unbroken, centre-half Sean McGinty struck the winning spot-kick to send the Reds into the semi-finals.

Milk Cup 2009: Reds crush Cantolao to move into quarters

Skipper Robbie Brady bagged another brace as United put Peruvian side Cantolao to the sword in a terrific display of free-flowing attacking football in Coleraine this evening, taking his tally for the tournament to four in two games. Will Keane and Ryan Tunnicliffe were also on the mark as the Reds rained shots on the Cantolao goal, with only a great display from ‘keeper Patricio Musso Savage keeping the scoreline respectable.

Northern Ireland Milk Cup 2009: A Preview

Tomorrow marks the start of the 2009 edition of the Northern Ireland Milk Cup, with United’s U17s bidding to defend the Premier section trophy they won so impressively last season and a trio of Reds representing Northern Ireland as they bid for glory in the Elite section. Read on for all the details about the forthcoming five days of action…