Needham Market U18 v Stowmarket Town U18 | 08.10.2026 | Bloomfields | Thurlow Nunn Eastern Counties League Central Division |
Needham Market Under-18's recorded back to back wins in all competitions, responding from two consecutive home league defeats, to thrash Stowmarket Town 5-0 at Bloomfields.
Debutant Zac Collings (14') opened the scoring with a fantastic strike, before a thirteen minute first half hat-trick from Alex Breeden (23', 29' 36'pen) gave Luke Betts' side a big lead at the break, after a rather one-sided first half.
Stow however enjoyed spells of possession second half, but were unable to trouble Jake Bloom much in the Needham goal, with Danylo Konik (83') rounding off the scoring late on.
Fin Brock (4') bullet headed a pinpoint right wing cross to the far post just agonisingly wide of the bottom far corner, as Aden Chandler (6') weaved into space 25-yards out onto the right only to curl a great strike just over the top far corner.
The young Marketmen (14') broke the deadlock, a partially cleared right wing corner was volleyed ferociously with precision into the bottom right-hand corner by Zac Collings, from inside the area on his Under-18's debut.
Riley Parker (20') met a partially cleared left wing cross with a exquisite well hit volley arrowing towards the roof of the net, forcing goalkeeper Jack Plumb to react sharply to fly up and tip it over.
The young Reds (23') doubled their lead deservedly, after being rather in control of proceedings Alex Breeden was fed by Aden Chandler to turn into space from 25-yards and rifle home into the bottom left-hand corner, leaving keeper Plumb rooted.
Breeden (28'), found in a similar area from his goal, turned and again shot low towards the same corner - though Plumb watched it well to hold, which moments later in the 29th minute Breeden's low deflected strike from the right-hand edge of the box nestled into the bottom far corner to make it 3-0 with his second goal of the night.
Needham meanwhile created a half chance to add a fourth, Collings (33') was fed driving into Stow's half on the counter, the midfielder exploited space until the edge of the area where he threaded Aden Chandler down the right wing whose first time deflected cross was held by Plumb on his line.
Chandler was fed ghosting onto the right byline (35') before being fouled for a penalty, which Breeden (36') cooly slotted into the bottom left-hand corner to complete his hat-trick and make it 4-0 before the break.
Needham (45') cut in dangerously onto the left-hand edge of the box only to see a deflected shot turned behind into the side-netting for a corner.
Fin Brock (45'+2') volleyed high and over, latching onto a sliced initial thunderous volley that stayed in play, as Luke Betts' side led 4-0 at the break.
After the restart, Stow (57') hit the front of the near, right-hand, post, with substitute Charlie Fox well placed to block the shot on the rebound.
Jake Bloom (63') was alert to tip Sonnie Thompson-Arnold's unmarked shot from the edge of the area just wide of his bottom left-hand corner, as Aiden King (65') was cautioned for a foul on Kaio Brittain.
Needham stopper Bloom (66') smashed the ball forward in search of substitute Leyton Upson whose headed flick on set up Alfie Mark to volley low but straight at Plumb.
Fin Brock (67') raced through smartly onto the left-hand byline to pull a great ball back to the edge of the six yard box, only for a Stow defender to be the first to the ball to clear.
Stow (72') skewed a shot wide, while Bloom held onto a low 81st minute free-kick.
Danylo Konik (83') made it 5-0, sharply twisting and turning through onto the edge of the box to wrap home smartly into the bottom right-hand corner.
Needham U18's switch focus to a trip to Southend United in the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday, with the weekend prior's fixtures pitting the Reserves away to Netherton United (3pm) and the U23's host Little Oakley on the 3G.
MOTM Alex Breeden said, "Yeah, absolutely buzzing. Good vibes in the changing room and we especially needed that win to get back to winning ways. Great effort from all the lads today. I think especially today we had that connection and that positivity that got us over the line. So, great to have three points and looking forward to next week and reserves on Saturday.
"Yeah, I know, we needed that (win) as a team. We've had some tough experiences so far. So, to get those three points is definitely massive for us as a group."
On hitting a hat-trick, "too many to count (in his career)! But no, yeah, it's great to get on the score sheet again. I've had a bit of a goal drought myself, so to have that is a great feeling and just want to keep going up from here really."
Asked if he'd scored many first half hat-tricks within 13 minutes, the forward said, "no, I think that's probably one of my first to be honest. So, yeah, great feeling. I mean, it just gives me much more confidence than I had previous weeks to keep going now really.
"Yeah, so I think (first goal) I just received it from one of the wide players and I kind of just had that feeling and had that thought that I need to get some goals. And really just looked up, pulled the trigger and I got quite lucky with the goalie's positioning, but, yeah, it's a good feeling. My second goal, once again, around the 18-yard box. Tough angle, but took a deflection and managed to go on the side net and buzzing to get a brace, and then finally managed to get a pen to seal the hat-trick. So, yeah, it's a great feeling for me and go on from here."
"We needed those three points and we're not putting the title out of reach just yet. We know we can get there and we've got a good enough squad to get it. With the 16s coming in as well, they add a great value to the team. So we know we can push for the title."
But last week's FA Youth Cup win and obviously Tuesday are both massive games. Yeah, two huge games. I mean, this competition itself is a big one and we want to go as far as we can.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's FA Youth Cup game at Southend United Breeden added, "Braintree was a great away win and that really gave us confidence going into this week. Southend will be a tough game, but we've got the quality to do it, especially away at their ground. We've got the capability to go all the way, really."
Previewing the Reserves trip to Netherton United on Saturday, "yeah, Saturday's game will be another tough one. The Reserves always are with the young squads, but look, we've just got to stay positive through the highs and lows and hopefully try and get all three points on the board because we really need that. And it's coming. We're just falling short a couple of games, but we know we can do it.
Needham Market:- 1 Jake Bloom, 2 Kaio Brittain, 3 Danylo Konik (88' Collings), 4 Dan Thompson (C), 5 Riley Coote, 6 Riley Parker, 7 Aden Chandler (70' Mohsen), 8 Zac Collings (56' Fox), 9 Alfie Mark (74' Breeden), 10 Alex Breeden (62' Upson), 18 Fin Brock (70' Ali). Subs: 14 Charlie Fox, 15 Leyton Upson, 16 Jamil Ali, 17 Jaxon Mohsen.
Stowmarket Town:- 1 Jack Plumb, 12 Callum Theobald, 3 Cameron Studd (54' Bennett), 6 Josh Grimwood, 5 Linton Field-Smith (54' Calver), 4 Tobias Goodhand, 8 Aiden King (C) (68' King), 10 Luke Budgen, 14 Jayden Bailey, 11 Florin Baitan (62' Cox), 9 Sonnie Thompson-Arnold. Subs: 15 Reggie Cox, 17 Oscar King, 2 Seb Bennett, 16 Ross Coupe (92' On), 7 Sam Calver.
Booked: Aiden King (65')
Goals: Zac Collings (14'), Alex Breeden (23', 29', 36'pen), Danylo Konik (83').