Over the past week both the Everton Under 21s and Under 18s have been in action several times but neither side has now recorded a win since the U18s’ marathon FA Youth Cup victory on February 12th. For the U21s, the last victory was in late January.
Most recently, the U21s headed south to take on Southampton and lined up as below, a young team once again captained by the “senior” player Reece Welch.
The Blues had taken a 10th minute lead through Demi Akarakiri following a storming run by left back
Josh Van Schoor, only to concede two goals in the middle of each half. With defeat staring them in the face, Reece Welch flicked home a Francis Gomez corner in the 90+1st minute of the game, 2-2 the final score.
That result means the Blues have not won in their last 4 games and leaves them sitting in 14th place in the 29-team table (the top 16 teams go through to a knockout competition).
Prior to that, the U18s had most recently taken on Leeds United at Finch Farm. They lined up as below with marauding right back Rocco Lambert taking the armband:
Keith Southern’s team had taken the lead with a fine headed goal by winger Kean Wren (pictured in the lead photo) in the 25th minute. A lovely weighted ball by 16 year old midfielder Harry Brookes had sent Charlie Stewart away down the right wing and his perfect cross was met by Wren. The Blues held that advantage until the 90+5th minute when it was cruelly wiped away with a Leeds equaliser. That goal had come about following a goalmouth scramble in which ‘keeper Seve Patrick was inches away from clawing the ball away from the goal-line. Result was 1-1.
The Kean Wren goal (and a well-choreographed celebration with Stewart) is captured below:
The U18s now sit 5th in the league table. Next fixtures up are an away game against Burnley on Friday followed by the “big one” on Friday the 13th March, the eagerly awaited FA Youth Cup Quarter final away against Manchester City. That will be a tough one, with the Citizens averaging just shy of 4 goals scored per game! The last league game between the two sides saw a narrow 1-2 defeat in late December. Given the date, hopefully this will be an unlucky day for the home team rather than the battling Blues. I can safely predict it won’t be a 0-0 draw!
With the regular U18s boosted by a few eligible players who have broken through into the U21s like Demi Akarakiri, Malik Olayiwola, Ceiran Loney and goalscoring hotshot, Braiden Graham, anything is possible. The youngsters are definitely in with a chance and one of the most impressive features this year has been the great determination and resilience shown to get this far in the competition.
The U18s had also featured three days prior to the Leeds game with yet another promising 16 year old youngster, Jake Doughty (pictured below), giving the Toffees a 66th minute lead wiped away by two late Middlesbrough goals, meaning a 1-2 defeat.
Next up for the U21s is an away fixture at Reading next Monday. Both sides will be eager to get back to winning ways!
