Michael Skubala was delighted to see his Leeds United U21s side overcome a huge test at Sunderland to grind out a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light. The result saw Leeds continue their unbeaten start to the season and retain their spot at the top of the Premier League 2 Division 2 table, but they were certainly made to work for it.
The Whites named an unchanged side on Wearside, meaning the likes of Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Wilfried Gnonto started for the second youth game running, but they were met with a strong Sunderland outfit, with the Black Cats using the contest as an opportunity to give first-team players some minutes. As such, Leeds were forced to dig deep at times, but Gnonto’s second half effort was enough to take home the three points as the Italy international bagged his first goal in Leeds colours with a neat strike.
However, Skubala took the opportunity to hail his side’s superb defensive performance with Cody Drameh, Morten Spencer, Kris Moore and Harvey Sutcliffe all picking praise for helping to keep their hosts at bay in front of a small crowd.
