Academy Thrash Man Utd

The Under-18 academy side ran out 5-1 victors against their Manchester United counterparts on Saturday morning.

England U-17 international Max Clayton netted a hat-trick as the Alex youngsters gave United a lesson in being clinical in front of goal.

Man Utd were far the dominant side on the day claiming the majority of possession and chances, in which they hit the post and crossbar from, but it was Crewe who stormed into a 4-0 lead in the second half, having gone in at half time 1-0 up.

Luke George got the scoring under way with a looping header from a free kick, Clayton took the second and fourth with some calm finishing and Brendan Daniels fired home the third after a lay off from Sean Cooke.

United did find a way back into the game with half an hour left through a Ryan Tunnicliffe 20 yard volley but Clayton completed the rout in stoppage time with another counter attack and extremely calm finish.

Dario Gradi watched on from the sidelines and the performance has not gone un-noticed but he says Clayton will not be following in the foot steps of his team mate Nick Powell and appearing in the first team just yet.

Dario told crewealex.net:'We obviously think he will be one who will push through.

'Saying that he is not ready at the moment. He has the technique but needs to develop physically. He has not played that much this season and is not as strong as Nick.

'We don't want to put young players into the team and make it an ordeal for them and see them suffer.'

You can watch the highlights of this game on YouTube. Simply press play on the video below...

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