The Northampton Town Football and Education Programme Elite squad won 7-3 at home to Cambridge United in the National Football Youth League South Premier Division on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cobblers started well and took an early lead when Mackay Dewar flicked Daniel Collin-Kolawole’s corner towards goal and the ball looped over the line off a defender.
Cambridge turned the scoreline around against the run of play on the half-an-hour mark. An attacker placed a penalty into the top corner before a teammate flicked the second ball from a set-piece in from close range.
Jack Culwick headed Kyle Stratford’s deep cross home to equalise for the Cobblers a few minutes later, and the defender curled a first-time effort into the far corner from Mmenim Ekop’s square pass to double his tally and restore his side’s lead before the break.
There was still time for the hosts to increase their advantage on the stroke of half-time, as Collin-Kolawole’s effort from another Ekop cutback was parried by the ‘keeper and Badero finished from close range.
The midfielder was tripped as he dribbled into the area shortly after the restart, and Culwick slotted the resulting spot-kick into the bottom corner to complete a perfect hat-trick.
The momentum was with Cambridge as they pulled a goal back going into the final quarter-of-an-hour, an attacker sprinting onto his own heavy touch and placing into the back of the net.
However, substitute Rojus Kuzminskas found the bottom corner across goal and finished into the empty net after Badero’s shot was saved to secure a deserved victory late on.
Cobblers: Billy Panter, Mackay Dewar, Kyle Stratford, Jay Hudson, Louey Franks, Jack Anderton-Gill, Mmenim Ekop, Romeo Ingman, Jack Culwick, Gabriel Badero, Daniel Collin-Kolawole
Substitutes: Kyran Yeomans, Rojus Kuzminskas, James Owen, Reece Lineham, Giancarlo Mercuri
