CLINICAL U21S BRUSH ASIDE HUDDERSFIELD

CLINICAL U21S BRUSH ASIDE HUDDERSFIELD

Brian Montenegro hits hat-trick in 4-1 derby victory..

Brian Montenegro netted a hat-trick as our Under-21s brushed aside Huddersfield in a clinical 4-1 victory on Monday afternoon.

The game also saw Aidy White make his long-awaited comeback from injury and pull on the United shirt for the first time since last July’s friendly at Chesterfield.

The visitors opened the scoring after just 12 minutes at Thorp Arch as Flo Bojaj managed to squeeze the ball home after a floated free-kick into the area.

But United soon hit back and Montenegro pulled his side level on 25 minutes after Lewie Coyle’s right-wing cross fell into the striker’s path for him to slot beyond goalkeeper Lloyd Allinson.

And the Paraguayan forward was able to add his second of the afternoon on the stroke of half-time with another cool finish. A mazy Chris Dawson run cut apart the Huddersfield defence, allowing Montenegro to go through on goal and make no mistakes from eight yards out.

White came through the opening 45 minutes unscathed, looking lively on both wings, before being replaced by Luke Booker at the break as pre-planned.

Luke Parkin then grabbed United’s third of the afternoon on 62 minutes with one of the goals of the season after being found in space by Montenegro’s clever ball over the top. Parkin strode forward before unleashing an unstoppable right-footed strike past the sprawling Allinson and into the top corner to put the hosts in cruise control.

Montenegro wrapped things up and completed his hat-trick with 10 minutes remaining on the clock, firing into the bottom corner after evading the offside trap inside the area to complete a seasonal double over Huddersfield.

Neil Redfearn was in attendance at Thorp Arch and said: “I thought it was an outstanding performance.

"I thought we competed well to begin with, it’s always a closely-fought game with Huddersfield in a Yorkshire derby but I thought we got on top and never really looked back.

"I thought some of the goals were excellent.

Asked about his stand-out players, the head coach added: "Brian, with his hat-trick, took his goals well. He looked bright in and around the box.

"I thought the two centre midfield players – Dawson and Phillips – were outstanding. I thought they bossed the game from start to finish.

"It was good to see Aidy White back. I thought he played with purpose and pace and went past people.

"There were a lot of plusses." 

United: Cairns, Coyle, Skelton, Killock, Denton, Phillips, Dawson, White (Booker 45), Walters, Parkin, Montenegro. Subs not used: Grimes, Vann, Lyman, Mulhern.

X