Local hero Nathan is young Dragons star
THE script could not have been better written for budding football star Nathan Broadhead. The Bangor-born striker not only scored the winner for Wales Under19s in a 3-2 victory over arch-enemy England – he did it at his home city stadium.
Everton prospect Broadhead became a first-year scholar with the Toffees in 2014 and signed his first professional contract earlier this year.
He has made one appearance as a substitute for Everton under-23s this season, coming on in the Checkatrade Trophy victory at Bolton, while continuing to feature for the under-18s.
At international level Broadhead has previously been capped at under16 and U17 level. He proved his ability a couple of years back by scoring another winner against England in the Victory Shield.
He shone for the under-19s against England again at the weekend and is sure to be in contention for U21 selection in the near future.
After that, it seems only a matter of time before he joins Bale and Ramsey in the senior set-up.
Whatever he achieves in a Wales shirt, Broadhead will surely never forget the night he sank the English in front of a Bangor crowd.
Whether Wales’ victory would have been enough to secure qualification for the next stage of the UEFA Under-19 Championship depended on their result against Luxembourg last night (Tuesday) at Bangor, and also the outcome of the other Group Six tussle between England and Greece at Rhyl.
As Chris Coleman’s Wales endured last-gasp World Cup agony at the hands of Serbia on Saturday, something incredibly exciting for the future was stirring 200 miles up north in Bangor.
Wales’ U19 side created their own bit of history with a stunning 3-2 triumph over England - a result that sent shockwaves through the game.
It was the most recent in a run of stunning results in Welsh age-grade football which indicates the future is truly golden, to follow up the current success of Gareth Bale and his senior team-mates.
The Welsh under-16s won the Victory Shield competition and the under-17 side defeated France for the first time in history.
What made this under-19s victory over the cream of England youth even more special was the fact that many of the Welsh stars-to-be are still only 16 or 17 and some thus still qualify for the under-17 team.
Amongst the younger Welsh aces are highly-rated Liverpool starlet Ben Woodburn, who has been likened to Aaron Ramsey, Chelsea full-back Cole Dasilva, Manchester City midfielder Matthew Smith and Exeter’s Ethan Ampadu.
England’s team was predictably littered with players from Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, but Wales had too much for them.
Wales roared into a 2-0 lead through goals from Everton front-man Broadhead and substitute Mark Harris, who is on Cardiff City’s books.
The first came from the penalty spot after prodigious talent Woodburn had been upended and Broadhead calmy tucked home from 12 yards.
After Harris scored again in the 60th minute, England fought back to draw level with a quick brace of goals from Liverpool’ s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
However, Wales displayed terrific resolve to snatch the winner 16 minutes from time as Broadhead scored once more.
It was arguably the finest Welsh performance against England since Aaron Ramsey shone against them in a a rip-roaring 2-2 Villa Park draw during an under-21 European Championship play-off clash eight years ago.
To compound England’s misery, Pic: Richard Birch Manchester United defender RoShaun Williams was dismissed for a second yellow card in the closing moments.
The England team has included players who have appeared on the big stage this season. England Under 19’s captain Tom Davies swapped Stamford Bridge where he came on for Everton as a sub for Gareth Barry at Rhyl last week, while England’s scorer against Wales Alexander-Arnold has appeared for Jurgen Klopp’s resurgent Liverpool this season and been rewarded with a new long-term contract.
Hale-Brown (Norwich); Coxe (Cardiff City) Ampadu (Exeter), Poole (Manchester Unted), DaSilva (Chelsea); Smith (Manchester City), Woodburn (Liverpool), Lewis (Swansea), Ovenden (Watford); Roberts (West Brom), Broadhead (Everton).