Arsenal’s Benik Afobe at the double as England u-16s hit Northern Ireland for six.
Arsenal striker Benik Afobe scored a brace for England u-16s against Northern Ireland in the opening game of the 2008 SkySports Victory Shield in Ballymena.
On the same ground where Sanchez Watt shot to prominence two years ago, Afobe was on target twice in a 6-0 win.
Joining Benik in the starting line-up for this fixture was his Arsenal colleague Chuks Aneke, who started the game on the right-wing.
Aneke played some good passes early on and on five minutes drifted inside and fired a shot on the Northern Ireland goal which was saved.
Then, on eight minutes, Afobe got his goal. Ireland’s Cormac Burke held on to the ball for too long and ended up playing in Afobe who gratefully accepted the gift and showed good composure to finish into the bottom right-hand corner.
Just a few minutes after his goal Afobe drifted out to the left and produced a decent cross but nothing came of it.
Benik had another chance on 20 minutes but scuffed his shot from a tight angle. Soon after, the Dagenham-born striker turned a defender but saw his effort saved.
Afobe had two more chances to score before the half was out. First, he glanced a header on goal which was tipped over the bar and then he saw his shot cleared away but only into the path of Man.Utd’s Morrison who hit the bar.
Half-time saw Chuks Aneke replaced by West Ham’s Robert Hall.
Just four minutes into the second period, England went 2-0 up after Oliver turned the ball into his own net under pressure from Afobe and just four minutes after that Everton’s Ross Barkley headed home from a corner for England’s third.
Afobe then grabbed his second of the game on 59 minutes. He was played in by Luke Garbutt and turned and fired past Brennan for England’s fourth.
Just three minutes later Afobe was denied of his hat-trick after being replaced by Middlesbrough’s Jake Fowler who went on to score England’s fifth goal before Man.Utd’s Ra’vel Morrison completed the rout late on.
