It’s been a whirlwind start to the season for Tommy Conway, having formed a formidable striking partnership with Nahki Wells and scoring seven goals heading into the September international break.
Having been given his first competitive start of the season against Coventry City in the Carabao Cup, the young striker’s impressive goalscoring form has seen the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Chris Martin limited to minutes from the bench.
And there was a first taste of international action on Thursday afternoon as Conway led the line for 84 minutes in Scotland Under-21s 3-1 international friendly win over Northern Ireland thanks to goals from Kerion Bowie, Ben Doak and Josh Mulligan.
Although he wasn’t able to mark his first international appearance with a goal, the 20-year-old did his chances of a promotion to the first-team little harm with an energetic display that on another day would’ve been rewarded with a goal.
We’ve taken a closer look at his performance on his Scotland U21 debut.
Finding himself in dangerous positions
So far this campaign it feels as though the striker has had a knack of finding himself in the right place at the right time to score for Nigel Pearson’s side and that trend continued in Belfast.
Every time the away side attacked down the flanks, Conway positioned himself in or around the six-yard box but was unable to be found by his teammates during a quiet first-half for the forward.
The second half saw August’s EFL Young Player of the Month receive better service and was only denied a debut goal by the inside of the post, as his side-footed effort from the edge of the box cannoned off the woodwork and into the path of Mulligan to strike home.
Despite Scotland being the better side for a majority of the 90 minutes, their dominance rarely created clear opportunities, with the three real chances all converted. So despite City’s young forwards best efforts to be rid of his marker in the box he was never provided with that gilt-edge chance to open his international account.
Getting in behind
Those who have seen Conway play for City’s under-23s side will be more than aware of his blistering pace when running beyond defences, but it is a characteristic that is typically harder to utilise in the men’s game with most defences comfortable against such runs.
It took less than five minutes for the 20-year-old to break beyond the Northern Irish backline latching onto a lofted through-ball, but he was unable to pick out a white shirt with his cutback.
Just after the 20-minute mark, Conway sprinted from inside his own area after goalkeeper Cieran Slicker claimed a corner, aiming to play City’s frontman behind the defence, however, it was calmly dealt with before reaching Scotland’s No9.
It’s testament to the striker’s fitness that despite being yet to play an entire 90 minutes this season, his pace and willingness to chase lost causes never faltered, with possibly his most impressive break behind coming after the hour mark as he beat the offside trap to reach an aimless clearance to the far corner.
Vocal from the front
It’s probably not a surprise that a young player learning his craft alongside Andi Weimann, Martin and Wells is partial to a bit of a moan with the officials and Conway was certainly as involved in those discussions as he is at Ashton Gate.
After Mulligan was booked in the opening exchanges for a heavy tackle, Conway made his way over to the referee to plead his teammates innocence which set the trend for the first half. There were similar protests after Mulligan’s strike was deflected wide only for a goal-kick to be given rather than a corner.
As well as his conversations with the officials, it certainly didn’t appear as though this was the 20-year-olds first camp with the national side. There was plenty of encouragement directed at his teammates as well as a long discussion with Connor Smith before his free kick found the head of Bowie to break the deadlock.
Holding the ball up and bringing others into play
One of the most impressive aspects of the Robins’ season so far has been the almost telepathic partnership between Conway and Wells when deployed together as a strike force and although the connection wasn’t quite as polished, Conway once more was effective in linking up the play.
It’s quite refreshing to see him up against players of his age rather than the experiences Championship defenders like Norwich City’s Grant Hanley. There was one moment in the first half where he brought down a high ball under pressure on half-way, before getting his body in the way to win a free kick in a manner more associated with flatmate Alex Scott.
The forward’s touches were limited but it’s hard to recall him wasting possession at all, with a couple of spells of the away side’s greatest pressure being generated when Conway picked up the ball towards the edge of the area before exchanging passes with ease.
He hasn’t played like a boy when donning the red of City this season, but his build is nowhere near that of the more physical forwards at City’s disposal and seeing him against players closer to his own age is a huge reminder of his youth.
Defending from the front and a key role at set-pieces
We’ve already touched on the energy of City’s latest academy product, but it wasn’t saved exclusively for the attacking stage, as both he and the rest of the Scotland team pressed from the front, allowing the Northern Irish defence little time to pick a pass.
What was slightly more surprising was the position taken by Conway when defending corners, at risk of sounding like Lee Johnson, he found himself hovering in the mid-goal region to pick up any lose balls into the area.
Thanks to the work of Slicker in the Scottish net and some poor deliveries from the home side, Conway had little to do. Yet it’s another string to the bow of the young man that hasn’t really been witnessed when playing for City.
When defending free-kicks the City starlet found himself on the end of the away team’s wall, communicating with Slicker to ensure they weren’t blocking their keeper’s line of sight and whatever the conversation was it worked as the wall turned the free-kick well over the crossbar.
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