Wolverhampton Wanderers U18 0-0 Sunderland U18
Sunderland under-18s collected their first point of the season away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Ryan Leonard missed the best openings of the afternoon for the Lads before they had a goal ruled out for offside in the closing stages as the Premier League fixture remained goalless.
After a heavy lose last Saturday to Liverpool, the aim of the day was to issue a response. Irrespective of the opposition, youth team boss Mark Atkinson demanded much more from his side in his pre-match notes, and despite a slow start the Lads grew into the fixture and could've come away with all three points.
Luke Cundle flashed over the first opening for the visitors on five minutes before Leonard miscued his effort from four-yards as Sunderland carved out their first chance with 39 minutes on the clock.
While Wolves enjoyed better spells of possession in the opening 45, with Jaden Forrester seeing his effort cleared off the line, stopper Jamie Pardington was forced to whirl into action at the other end as he made a smart stop on 41 minutes to keep the scores level.
Chances at either end continued after the restart, with Leonard blazing over the bar on 58 minutes after Forrester was flagged offside as he was slipped in behind moments before.
Dan Neill then looked to spark something in the middle of the park but his long-range strike whistled inches over the bar with 20 minutes left.
Both sides pressed for an winner in the dying stages but neither could muster one, with Sunderland seeing an effort chalked off for offside before Wolves’ Forrester smacked the bar with a volley from a cross.
Sunderland U18: Patterson, Edmundsson, Evans (Bruce, 88), Smith, Howard, Kiernan, Neill (Lilley, 82), Leonard, Ord, Devine, Best (Scothern, 76).