Kitt Nelson played a starring role in a 5-2 comeback victory from Preston North End U19s over Oldham Athletic.
The 16-year-old scored PNE’s first goal of the day after he went on a great run, taking on two players and expertly finished with a low drive from the edge of the area.
He then grabbed an assist on 84 minutes as he played in Jacob Holland-Wilkinson after another superb run and helped the centre forward complete his hat-trick.
Speaking to PNE.Com after the game, the central midfielder said: “I thought I played well. I haven’t scored too many goals for the under 19s this year so I was happy to score.”
But Nelson was more focused on how well the team performed as a whole.
“I thought we did well,” he said. “We got off to a slow start obviously, but I think we picked it up towards the end of the game and finished really strongly.
“We always knew we were going to score goals; it was just a matter of time really.”
It was an incredibly wet and windy morning at Springfields for the match which meant the Lilywhites had to adjust their playing style.
“I think we recognised that we had to play on the floor a little bit more and longer balls weren’t going to be as effective.
“The second half was especially tough as the wind was going against us, but I thought we dealt with it well and I was happy with how we played.”
It was also a youthful and much-rotated side for North End as they prepare to face Sutton United in the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday evening and their task was made even harder by Dana Amaral’s sending off on the hour mark, but Nelson felt the side coped well with these challenges.
“We had a lot of key players out because we’re resting for the Youth Cup. It was just important that we kept the good run of form going, leading into the Youth Cup game.
“The red card was a strange situation to be fair, but we adapted well and I’m happy with how we did.”