Under-18s undone by late Blues winner

A late winner saw our Under-18s edged 3-2 by Birmingham City in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts took an early lead at their Wast Hills training ground with Rico Patterson bending in a free-kick on six minutes, but we rallied back in the first half and went into the break deservedly ahead. Riley Owen finished off a fine team move for 1-1 on 16 minutes before the winger put us in front on 39 minutes after great work by Rio Kyerematen.

In the second half, however, the hosts dominated and managed to level on 70 minutes through Kieran Wakefield. Then, as we looked to be picking up our first point of the campaign, George Hall popped up in the box in the 89^th minute to head home the winner for the Blues.

On what was a sunny day in the West Midlands, Birmingham took the lead with just six minutes on the clock as, after winning a free-kick 20 yards out, Patterson whipped the ball low and hard round the wall to beat goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala to his left.

With the lead in tow, the hosts sat back and allowed us to have a sustained spell of possession and that was something we capitalised on 10 minutes later. Great interplay down the right flank saw Max McKnight break into the box, he then picked out Owen in space on the left, who cut inside before finessing the ball into the far right-hand corner of the net. Despite the leveller though, our opponents should have retaken the lead just a minute later, but full-back Harry Manton was wasteful, dragging wide from the angle.

On 23 minutes, both teams had good opportunities to get themselves in front but, again, the chances could not be taken. First, Jaden Williams fashioned an opportunity for us as he was teed up by Owen, but the forward sliced his shot wide. The hosts then broke quickly with Hall ultimately drawing a smart save out of Lo-Tutala.

We had another good opening on 37 minutes as Williams and Kyerematen combined to win the ball on the edge of the box before playing in Owen. His effort, however, was tame and easily collected by goalkeeper Alfie Brooks. The winger made no mistake though when he was presented a second opportunity two minutes later as, after Kyerematen slalomed through the line of defence and picked him out, Owen slotted the ball in from eight yards out.

After the restart, the Blues took control as they pressed for an equaliser. We had to weather a storm at the start of the second half, but with Lo-Tutala collecting every searching cross that came into the box, we looked comfortable. However, our resistance was broken on 70 minutes as Wakefield nipped between the lines to prod Birmingham level.

That got the Blues’ tails up and they went in search of a winner. Over the next five minutes, the hosts had three half-chances to take the lead, but Hall twice fired off target from good positions before Jordan James drilled straight at Lo-Tutala from distance.

With two minutes left to play, we nearly had the winner as Brandon Bryan-Waugh’s speculative effort from distance was tipped over by keeper Brooks. Yet, it was the Blues that went on to take the spoils as Hall nodded home a free header with just a minute remaining.

‘We showed real character and resilience to get back into it’

Despite ultimately being left disappointed with the defeat, Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis was pleased with elements of his side’s performance, particularly the reaction they showed to going behind so early on.

“We showed real character and resilience to get back into it and we were really on top (at the end of the first half), scoring two excellent goals,” Stuart said. “It was pleasing, it's something we have worked on this week after a tough game last weekend (a 7-2 defeat to Chelsea) and something we can definitely build on.

“Our concentration has to be better in the final minutes though. We spoke a lot this week about the fundamentals of football, tracking your runners, defending, and so it was disappointing to concede right at the end.”