Will Trueman had a Wednesday debut to remember when he scored at the Kop end in our 2-0 win over Leicester under-21s in the Papa Johns Trophy at Hillsborough tonight.
We might have already been out of the competition, having lost our first two group games, and not surprisingly there was a sparse crowd at S6 … but the 20-year-old midfielder, who had already caught the eye with an energetic performance, will recall forever his first senior match in the blue and white stripes as he turned home Jaden Brown’s cross from eight yards out to put us two-up on 52 minutes.
Callum Paterson had fired Wednesday ahead after just eight minutes with a free kick into the bottom corner of the net before Cameron Dawson showed his agility at the other end, tipping a fierce Shane Flynn effort over the bar.
The Leicester youngsters continued to find their feet as the half progressed, with 17-year-old Will Alves causing problems with his dribbling skills.
However, it was Trueman who showed his goalscoring touch soon after half time with that close-range finish to double our lead.
We twice went close to making it 3-0 just after the hour-mark, Brown just wide after an excellent run in the box and then Paterson fired over from 10 yards after being set up by Alex Mighten.
Alves sounded a warning when his fierce effort from the edge of the box came back off the bar and the visitors missed a great chance to pull a goal back on 64 minutes, Jack Hunt adjudged to have fouled Tawanda Maswanhise in the box but Cameron Dawson diving full-length to keep out the same player’s underhit spot kick.
Maswanhise then fluffed another good opportunity for Leicester, putting the ball wide from 15 yards after Dawson had made a hash of collecting a high ball.
However, it was Trueman’s night and he received a great ovation from the 3,173 fans after being substituted with nine minutes left.
Dawson, Hunt, Agbontohoma, McGuinness (Aguas 63), Brown, Davidson, Trueman (Cadamarteri 81), Glover, Mighten, Wilks (Shipston 72), Paterson. Unused subs: Charles, Alimi-Adetoro, Dunn, Fusire. Attendance: 3,173.