Report: International Academy 10 St. Andrews 2

- Midfielder Jirattikan Vapilai scored four goals in the victory, while Anan Surattanasin also netted a hat-trick 

- Win follows 5-2 midweek triumph over side coached by Leicester City legend Muzzy Izzet 

Leicester City’s International Academy surged to a second victory in four days as they comfortably dispatched Leicester-based St. Andrews at Belvoir Drive on Saturday. 

The Foxes returned to the Club this month following an off-season break in Thailand and were again in free-scoring mood after beating a side coached by City legend Muzzy Izzet 5-2 on Wednesday. 

Their development at City’s Category 1 training facility continues to progress at a rapid rate, and that was evident right from the off on Saturday. 

It took just three minutes for the International Academy to open the scoring as Jirattikan Vapilai curled in from the inside of the box, rounding off a fine move. 

Only three minutes after the opening goal, Leicester doubled their lead as Thanapat Wongpetpoom cut inside from the right flank, slipped his marker and fired in an excellent solo goal to make it 2-0. 

LCFCIA dominated in possession and when St. Andrews failed to clear corner, the quick thinking of Vapilai made it 3-0 – the midfielder drilled in on 14 minutes for his second of the game. 

And Vapilai, with just 17 minutes gone, had his hat-trick. The tricky central midfielder was brought down on the edge of the box and converted the free kick, hammering in from 20 yards. 

The International Academy continued to impress and made it 5-0 just before the half-hour mark. An excellent run from Anan Surattanasin saw the striker collect a well-weighted through ball before slotting in from a tight angle. 

St. Andrews netted two times in as many minutes, but City weathered the storm that followed, making it 6-2 just before the break as Surattanasin fired in for his second after finished well from Vapilai’s superb pass. 

LCFCIA’s convincing lead the break was extended with 20 minutes to play as striker Surattanasin completed a deserved hat-trick after he had broken St. Andrews offside trip. 

The hosts’ next goal came courtesy of a corner as defender Apiwit Sapram converted from Rachan Prasittong’s near-post flick-on, making it 8-2 on 74 minutes. 

There was a fourth goal of the game on the 80-minute mark for Vapilai, who had been outstanding throughout, as he raced in, cut inside his marker and stroked the ball home for LCFCIA’s ninth goal. 

Further efforts from Surattanasin and Nutchanon Soijit followed, but it was forward Pakkawat Mekkhawan who would round off the scoring as he curled in Sapram’s back-heel to make it double figures late on. 

Reflecting on the win, International Academy Head Coach Rodney Ballantine said: “We’ve played two games in one week and the thing that we wanted to take from Wednesday was to improve our game management. 

“We were under pressure for a little bit of the game today, but we did well to weather that storm. We set our players a challenge in the second half to not concede and they lived up to that. 

“The clinical finishing of our strikers was excellent and it was nice to get a few goals. We’ll be coming up against some good teams over the next few months, so we want to make sure our defensive play is good. 

“It’s going to be a real test of our defence, so Development Squad coach Nicky Eaden is going to do some defensive drills with them on Tuesday. It’s early days yet, but moving ahead, we’re all looking forward to the new season.”