Swindon Town U18s made it consecutive victories over Portsmouth FC U18s in their latest Merit League One fixture, with an away 6-1 victory on Saturday morning.
After being a part of the matchday squad which overcame Notts County the day before, Joel McGregor scored a hat-trick to earn himself a league debut against Sutton on Easter Monday, Jo Owiti scored twice and Miles Obodo got himself a goal to round up the impressive showing from Town's U18s.
Sean Wood made three changes to the side which drew with Sutton last time out, with several U16s given the chance to impress in the age group up, with midfielder Jaxon Brown also given the captain's armband following recent strong showings.
The game started brightly for Swindon, and although it was an even 30 minutes between two competitive footballing sides, Town finally got their breakthrough with 10 minutes left to play in the first half, with Joel McGregor scoring his first of the game.
Defender Ant McCormick drove the ball into the Portsmouth half, before sliding the ball through McGregor down the middle, leaving the wide man to slot the ball through the Pompey keeper's legs and give Town a goal's lead going into the half-time break.
Half-time: Portsmouth FC U18s 0 Swindon Town U18s 1
The game in the second half continued where it left off in the first, with Town's next goal falling on the hour mark when Miles Obodo scored his latest goal for Town's U18s.
Midfielder Ali Stewart won the ball back for Swindon and laid it off to fellow midfielder Dani Gonzalez who in turn, slipped the ball through to Miles Obodo with a neat finish and gave Swindon a two-goal lead.
Swindon shortly made it three with Jo Owiti getting his first of the game in the 72nd minute, with another smart finish to support Town's impressive showing so far.
Following an impressive leap from Joel McGregor who won the ball back, before playing it through to the second-half substitute who made no mistakes in scoring from close range.
Pompey pulled a goal back after Swindon's third, but it wasn't long before Swindon found themselves back on the scoring trail with McGregor scoring his second of the afternoon in the 77th minute.
Captain Jaxon Brown played the ball to McGregor who beat his man down the right-hand side and unleashed a brilliant shot straight into the left corner to notch his second.
The youngster wasn't done there, however, and got his well-deserved third just before the 90th minute, with another clever diagonal pass from Ant McCormick allowing him to control and then finish with great composure to seal his hat-trick late on.
Goal number six came in added time with Jo Owiti seizing on a parry from Pompey's keeper to score his second and Town's sixth to make it a resounding result and performance in their latest Merit League One fixture last weekend.
When reflecting on the result and also touching on Joel McGregor's recent league debut, lead professional development phase Sean Wood said: “I was very pleased with the performance all around on Saturday. We were clinical and ruthless in front of goal and we played with a real attacking threat and intensity.
It was also great to include several U16s in this game because due to the natural progression of our second years being on loan, it allows them to come in and play which is a promising step for them.
"It was also very pleasing to see Joel score a hat-trick on Saturday and it's been coming for a while! It's also a very proud moment for him, his family and the academy after earning his league debut, which is our fifth league debut this season. It is a brilliant achievement for all involved and we're all so proud of this moment too.
"To score six goals against a good Portsmouth team who we've played four times this season is promising as we look to finish the season with a good group of U18s squad with lots of challenges and gameday experiences as we try to finish with momentum and consistency going into 24/25."
Swindon Town U18s: Robinson, McGregor, Foye, Stewart, McCormick, Hunt, Obodo, Brown (C) (Tombs 89), Ameen (Owiti 59), Gonzalez (Larkins 72), Chard (Hutt 66)
Goals: McGregor 35, 77, 86, Owiti 72, 90+2 Obodo 60
