Paul Tait was pleased with his side's defensive display as Everton Under-18s moved up the Premier League (North) table with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Blackburn today at USM Finch Farm.
After a tightly-contested opening half, the young Blues struck three times in 10 minutes to gain a commanding lead. Tom Cannon hit a double, adding to Bobby Carroll's opening strike. Sean McAllister came on to put the game out of reach for the away side, who grabbed one back in added time through Luke Brennan.
"We defended very well. We knew Blackburn would come here and try to hit us on the counter-attack," Tait told evertonfc.com.
"They had an older side than us, there were a lot of second years playing, so, they could hit us on the counter-attack with pace and power which they had.
"After a bit of a shaky start we came into the game and I think the three goals (at the end of the second half) just killed them off. They were really good goals, pieces of outstanding bits of play and that put us in control."
Everton had to be on their game in the early stages as Blackburn threatened.
The hosts rallied and began to mount some serious pressure. First, Lewis Warrington saw his through ball just creep away from an onrushing Cannon, before Sebastian Quirk stung the palms of Jordan Eastham in the Blackburn goal.
Finally, after several scoring opportunities, Everton went ahead. Seven minutes before the break, Carroll kept up his prolific form, firing home unmarked after Eastham failed to deal with Quirk's teasing cross.
The opener seemed to inspire the young Blues, as Cannon added a double just before the break. Rhys Hughes, the provider for the first, found time and space in the middle, where he was able to play the young forward through, as Cannon nonchalantly placed the ball home.
Just minutes later, he was in the thick of it once again, firing past a hapless Eastham to give the hosts a comfortable 3-0 advantage.
After their late first-half setback, Blackburn responded well. Jack Barrett was called into action, palming away Jared Harlock's well-struck free-kick, before Durrant found some space in the Everton area, but his effort sailed over.
As the game entered the closing stages, substitute Sean McAllister put the icing on the cake. Latching on to Cannon's inch-perfect cross, the victory was sealed for Everton.
An added-time Brennan strike was mere consolation for Blackburn, with Tait praising the performance of centre-back Dylan Thompson.
"I thought the two young centre-backs played the best they have played for us,” said the Under-18s boss. “I am on at Dylan all the time about his defensive plays because he is a smashing footballer, you can see that.
"He is lovely at playing it out from the back but we are always on to him about his defensive duties. His headers, clearances, blocks proved he was the foundation to where we got the win from today."
