Southampton: Saints’ U23s continue incredible start to campaign
By Marc Walker
Southampton’s U23s continued their incredible start to the 2018/19 season yesterday evening with a 1-0 win over Newcastle United.
Michael Obafemi’s after 34 minutes of the contest was enough to claim the three points and extended the Southampton youngsters’ unbeaten run at the start of the campaign to seven games.
Three league wins and two draws in Premier League 2 Division 2 also see the Saints sit top of the table ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United in second and third.
Within the seven games streak, other competitions have also been played in. The U23s won their opening Premier League International Cup game against Dinamo Zagreb; a tournament similar to the Champions League.
Valuable experience for Radhi Jaidi’s side also comes in the Checkatrade Trophy. It sees them up against the senior teams of Colchester United, Cambridge United and Southend United.
Saints looking to sort poor Monday record. dark. Next
5️⃣ wins
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) September 15, 2018
2️⃣ draws@michaelobafemi_'s strike helped #SaintsFCU23s extend their unbeaten run to seven at #NUFC! pic.twitter.com/Ll7BuEiHWe
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They won their opening clash in this too with an impressively comfortable 2-0 victory over Colchester.
It is probably no coincidence that this start to 2018/19 comes after a pre-season packed with further tests. Jaidi’s side won the South Shields tournament ahead of teams such as Celtic and Marseille and also held Bologna’s Serie A senior team for 70 minutes before succumbing to a 2-0 defeat.
Whilst they continue to impress in their domestic football, it appears that any chances of a breakthrough to Mark Hughes’ senior side will be limited at this stage.
Previous academy graduates such as Harrison Reed, Sam McQueen and Jake Hesketh have had to go out on-loan to Football League clubs to get first-team action this season.
However, the current U23s certainly don’t lack in the talent department. Players like Callum Slattery have been on the first-team radar for a while, and him and Full-Back Jake Vokins have represented England at youth levels.
Newcastle match-winner Obafemi also made his first-team debut during the 2017/18 campaign when Saints were suffering from an injury crisis for the home draw with Spurs.