Powell (2), Thompson & Casey also on target against Bristol City
Millwall U21s coach Neil Harris hailed the 'outstanding' attacking play shown as his young charges bounced back to winning ways with a 7-3 thrashing of Bristol City at Calmont Road on Monday afternoon.A hat-trick from Aiden O'Brien coupled with a brace from Jack Powell, plus efforts from Ben Thompson and Dylan Casey secured Millwall's biggest win of the Professional Development League campaign.
"You could see the disappointment of the lads, but they managed to nick a goal just before the break to go in 3-2 ahead when Powell made a terrific forward run and got behind the defence before squaring for Aiden to tap home from close range."
Powell, who along with O'Brien bossed this match, was at the heart of Millwall's fifth goal. Picking up the ball in midfield, Powell exchanged a neat one-two with O'Brien, carried on running and following another slick one-two, O'Brien slipped the ball under the keeper to complete his hat-trick in some style.
"We then switched off again," explained Chopper, "And conceded a third goal following a long forward ball, which was really avoidable to make it 6-3."
"There was some outstanding football played," added Chopper, "But we have to look at how we can learn from these Development games, that is the whole point of them. We will be looking at the three goals we conceded very closely, trying to eradicate those sloppy errors.
"We will also want to take and learn from the positives; the way we passed and moved, the way we got into dangerous positions and made good decisions. We can learn from that and work towards trying to recreate that in the future."
Monday's game also provided a solid 45 minutes of match action for Nicky Bailey, and the midfielder was highly praised by Chopper, who said: "It was great to see Nicky back, to see his enthusiasm and excitement. He played like a young kid at times, chasing everything. He is a real example of how to play in a Development game as a senior pro. First class."
"It was an accident and everyone obviously wishes Kris the very best," added Chopper.
Team: Tom King, Josh Siafa, Dylan Casey, Sid Nelson (Chris Parr, 80mins), Keaton Wood, Nicky Bailey (Kyren Farrell, 46mins), Jack Powell, Ben Thompson, Aiden O'Brien, Alfie Pavey, Kris Twardek (Jamie Philpot, 42mins). Subs not used: Harry Girling, JP Rylah.