U21S MATCH REPORT: BURNLEY 1-3 READING

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Second-half goals edge Royals past young Clarets

2026-08-28T10:15+01:00

U21S MATCH REPORT: BURNLEY 1-3 READING

Second-half goals edge Royals past young Clarets

2026-08-28T10:15+01:00

Burnley U21s fell to a 3-1 defat against Rading at the County Ground in Leyland on Friday night.

Murray Campbell netted a header in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to stop the three Premier League 2 points from heading south to Berkshire.

There were four changes to the side that started the friendly against Espanyol U19s earlier this week, with ‘keeper Callum Feeney coming in for his U21s debut.

Michael Stanley stepped in at right-back, with Troy Savage starting in the heart of the pitch and first-team midfielder Lluc Castell earning valuable minutes off striker Jiaming Zhang.

Both teams had chances in the early stages, with Zach Johnson firing over from 25 yards and Reading’s Boyd Beacroft heading onto the roof of the net.

Feeney later made a smart stop to his right and Ellis Clark had an effort pushed away before the visitors took the lead through Torin Ntege with 34 on the clock.

The lead lasted just seven minutes, though, as Johnson’s whipped cross was nodded down by Murray Campbell and found its way over the line despite the best efforts of the Reading 'keeper.

Stanley had a presentable chance to make it 2-1 in first-half stoppage time, but his shot was just too high from 16 yards.

Reading restored their advantage thanks to Ntege’s cultured finish seven minutes after the restart, and Clarets boss Andy Farrell turned to his bench for the first time during the celebrations.

Cameron Scott, Zhang, and Brandon Pouani made way for a trio of U18s in Diandro Fletchman, Destiny Okonkwo, and Blayz Borgesson respectively.

Okonkwo turned a cross wide and Borgesson headed straight at Toby Borgnis as Burnley started to turn the screw in search of an equaliser.

However, substitute Kiyan Coke Miles-Smith rounded off a quick counter attack to make it 3-1 13 minutes from time.

Corey King later took the place of Stanley and Dylan Morison replaced Savage as the clock hit 90, but the four added minutes passed without much incident of note.

Next up is a Premier League Cup match against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday 8th September. Kick-off at Highbury Stadium is 7pm.

Burnley: Feeney, Stanley (King 81), Scott (Fletchman 53), Campbell, Airoboma, Savage (Morison 90), Johnson, Clark, Zhang (Okonkwo 53), Castell, Pouani (Borgesson 53)

Unused Substitutes: Robinson

Reading: Borgnis, St.Louis, Logan, Mfuamba (Bowdery 74), Duah, Beacroft, Jones (Coke-Miles-Smith 74), Howard (Lonmeni 84), Ntege (Dashi 84), Sackley, Osho

Unused Substitutes: Harrison, Kowalczyk, Cliff

Goals: Ntege 34’, 52’, Campbell 41’, Coke-Miles-Smith 77’