Hampton & Richmond Borough 0 Arsenal 4
Neil Banfield’s side was selected with the upcoming G14 tournament in Malaysia in mind .
His team was : Mannone (Szczesny 57), Ogogo, Steer, Randall (Rui Fonte 66), Rodgers (G.Hoyte ht), Nordtveit, Dunne(Thomas 57), Merida (Dunne 66 ),(capt) Simpson (Lansbury 57), Barazite, Rui Fonte (Murphy 57) – there was a certain amount of player rotation throughout.
Jay Simpson and Nacer Barazite produced three fine right foot strikes from distance between them and Lansbury added a late close-range volley in a comfortable win against limited opposition. (Jay Simpson 8, Nacer Barazite 21 and 68 and Henri Lansbury 87. Attendance 791 ).
I understand that of the younger Arsenal players from the bench last weekend, only Gibbs and Traore are likely to travel to Amsterdam.
Arsenal have signed the England Under-16 centre back Kyle Bartley (born 22 May 1991) from Bolton Wanderers but he is already sidelined with a broken toe (?) , and have released French centre back Carl Parisio.
AFC’s Malaysian tournament will involve a severely depleted squad with the additional absence of centre back Gavin Hoyte, midfielders Henri Lansbury and Fran Merida, and forward Rhys Murphy, who shortly depart for the FIFA Under-17 World Championship finals in Korea.
The Malaysian tournament is designated an Under-20 age limit, and Neil Banfield will have a number of players at least three years younger than that.