Sunderland's U18 lead coach Jordan Moore praised hat-trick hero Marcus Neill as he helped hit his former club Liverpool for six.
A superb second-half display from the young Black Cats, which featured Neill’s hat-trick as well as goals from Tom Proctor, Liam Hunt and Aaron Chungh, saw Moore’s side return to winning ways with a 6-1 thumping of the Reds at the Academy of Light in the U18 Premier League.
It was the perfect tonic for today trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Neill’s hat-trick saw his U18 goals tally for the season rise to 11, and the lead coach commended the striker’s contributions, as well as the three other goal scorers.
Moore made three changes to the side that lost 3-0 to Derby almost a month ago, with Chungh and George Bell returning to the starting XI. But it was Neill, who left Liverpool in the summer to join the Black Cats, who made the biggest impression.
“Marcus has had a really good, positive first year with us, since he signed as a scholar here from Liverpool,” Moore said. “We’re really pleased for him.
“He started the season really well and did what Marcus does best in the areas he was in today. We’ve also got Tom scoring again, and Liam starting in the centre of midfield, and adding goals from that area.
“Then right at the end, we’ve got some more U16s coming on, and an U15 on the pitch as well, which is really pleasing for us.”
Neill, who spent five years on Liverpool’s books, was headhunted by Sunderland's recruitment department last season. The scouts, led by Ian Archbold, persuaded the youngster - son of Australian international and ex-Blackburn Rovers defender Lucas Neill - that he would have a better pathway to first-team football on Wearside than Merseyside.
The 16-year-old has wasted no time in showing why he is so highly rated, and has already been called into Graeme Murty's U21 squad.
Also, Moore discussed how the Lads “got their rewards” for their work in training, and the half-time changes that proved significant.
He continued: “It was a really young side and before the game, we knew it would be difficult and challenging. However, the lads have worked really hard on everything that we have done in training, and I thought, for their efforts over the last few weeks, they deserved that.
“We just tweaked a few things at half-time and said that we thought they were in control of the game. We told them the things they had to be aware of and to go and start the second half really quickly and be on the front foot.
“Again, those are things that we’ve done in training about starting quickly, and they got their rewards for that again.”
