U 17s beat Gladbach 3-1

Ömer Tokac (12') put Leverkusen in front early on. Yannick Schaus (54') and Tokac (56') again set the Werkself on course for victory before Gladbach scored a consolation goal on 71 minutes.

After a rather indifferent performance before Easter in the home win against Hennef, the U17s on the front foot from the start against Mönchengladbach. "The lads took the game very seriously with a very focused approach," said coach Patrick Weiser.

The U17s created the first chance early on and quickly followed that up with a fine individual move by Tokac to make it 1-0 on 12 minutes. The Werkself youngsters were completely on top and produced some excellent moves. The only thing missing was sharpness in front of goal.

Double strike before the break

At the other end, the team coached by Patrick Weiser and Jan Hoepner kept it tight at the back and took a narrow but richly deserved 1-0 lead into half-time. The Bayer 04 lads then settle matters quickly. Schaus scored with a deflected shot (54') and, less than 120 seconds later, Schaus provided the assist for Tokac to make it 3-0.

That put the result beyond doubt. With more efficient finishing in front of goal the U17s could easily have pulled even further ahead. In the closing stages Mönchengladbach did exploit a mistake by the Leverkusen keeper following a free kick to make it 3-1 on 71 minutes. But that did not affect the outcome as the Leverkusen visitors maintain concentration to the end.

Up one place

"That was a really good performance today," praised coach Hoepner. With 45 points, the U17s have now moved above FC Köln (43) into third place. That is the maximum possible finish as there are just two games remaining and the gap to second place is eight points.

The last two competitive matches for the U17s are at the end of May as the U17 European Championships are just round the corner with Jan Boller representing the Werkself in the Germany team.

Friendly against 1860 Munich

"It's the same every year and affects all teams. We'll use the time to carry on working in training and maintain our rhythm playing friendlies against good opposition," said Hoepner. The first takes place next weekend against 1860 Munich. That is followed by friendlies against the Luxembourg U17s and KRC Genk from Belgium.

The next league game for the U17s is on 21 May with a home fixture against second-in-the-table Borussia Dortmund at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.

Match stats:

FC Mönchengladbach U17: Hüge - Athanasiadis (Ukiq 70’), Ayapong (Arcten-Pilates 60’), Rolink, Lange, Nehrbauer, Leske, Spickenbaum (Hardy 57’), Helvaci, Machert, Ince.

Bayer 04 U17: Ueing - Boller, Arik (Schneider 57’), Stanilewicz, Tokac, Samoura, Schaus (Mamutovic 64’), Anapak (Spellerberg 51’), Azhil (Makreckis 51’), Fragapane, Klossek.

Goals: 0-1 Tokac (12’), 0-2 Schaus (54’), 0-3 Tokac (56’), 1-3 Machert (71’).

Booked: / - /.

Referee: Duschner (Borgfeld).

Attendance: 50.