Sports star nets new academy's inaugural goal

The honour of scoring the first ever goal in the EVO-STIK Northern Premier League Youth League which kicked off on Wednesday fell to Kieran Cronin of Mickleover Sports, writes Phil Bradley.

Cronin netted a quarter of an hour into a 4-2 win for Sports at the Raygar Stadium over Newcastle Town in the new league, launched this season as the competitive arm of the ground-breaking NPL Football Academy.

Castle's Sam Arnold quickly levelled matters five minutes later but by the time he scored his second of the game in stoppage time, the points were already in the bag for Mickleover thanks to a second half double from Craig Bagshaw, with another goal from Joe Alldred sandwiched in between.

The win puts Mickleover top of the table as the other fixture between Radcliffe Borough and Leek Town ended all square at three goals apiece.

Leek had taken the lead on twenty minutes against the run of play through Jordan Ellis but two goals in as many minutes from Errol Dias from the penalty spot and a Sidney Duncolme effort then put Borough in front. But Radcliffe couldn’t get to the half time interval without conceding a second and the teams came out for the second period all square.

Ben Oldroyd then put Borough in front for a second time with twenty minutes left on the clock but Leek’s youngsters refused to lie down and two minutes later were back on level terms once again, Dylan Shilcock grabbing the crucial goal.

NPL Youth League Results - Wednesday 5 November
............................
Mickleover Sports 4
Cronin 15, Bagshaw 51, 76, Alldred 65
Newcastle Town 2
Arnold 20, 90
............................
Radcliffe Borough 3
Dias 37 (pen), Duncolme 39, Oldroyd 70
Leek Town 3
Ellis 20, Machin 43, Shilcock 72
............................

* The EVO-STIK NPL is the first league in English football to launch a youth league and academy combining football with further education.

The NPLFA opened its doors to its first intake of students last month at five pilot clubs - Leek Town, Mickleover Sports, Newcastle Town, Radcliffe Borough and Romulus - after being officially sanctioned by the Football Association back in May.

The initial pilot programme sees up to 20 students aged 16-18 studying for a BTEC Level 3 in Sport on two year courses at each club while working with FA licensed coaches on a daily basis. As well as competing in the new EVO-STIK NPL Youth League, they will also play in national competitions led by the FA Youth Cup.

Follow the new academy's progress at nplfa.co.uk, twitter.com/NPLFA and at facebook.com/NPLFA.

Follow us: @evostikleague on Twitter | The NPL group on Facebook by clicking here: www.facebook.com/groups/TheNPL/