Donley double helps Under-18s earn first win on the road

Our Under-18s claimed their first away league victory of the season, running out 3-1 winners with a dominant display at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Making a fast start at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground, we were ahead within three minutes as Jamie Donley headed home to continue his run of scoring in each of his competitive appearances for the Under-18s this season. We then had a flurry of chances to double our advantage but were unable to take them – something we were punished for two minutes after the break when Dewain Sewell rolled the ball home to bring the hosts level. We quickly got back on the front foot, though, and went ahead once more on 54 minutes with Donley showing some nice footwork in the box before finding the corner of the net. Substitute Khalon Haysman then struck with 13 minutes left to put the gloss on a fine team display.

The tone was set just three minutes in as ambitious play saw us take an early lead. Renaldo Torraj provided the spark as he stole a march on his marker down the left before standing a cross up into the centre of the box for Donley to power home. The striker then almost doubled his tally five minutes later, only for a last-ditch block at the near post to deny him.

Our command of proceedings continued as the half progressed, however we couldn’t quite find the clinical edge to make our dominance count. Two gilt-edged chances fell to Torraj in the box, but the winger was unable to convert either, first with Villa goalkeeper Josh Lane managing to scramble across his line to make a save before he then struck the crossbar from close range. While we may have been in control of the game, the hosts were showing glimpses of their threat in the final third and were almost level midway through the first half as Adam Hayton was called upon to produce a point-blank save to thwart Sewell. The striker was not to be denied two minutes after the restart though, as he applied a smart finish to Todd Alcolm’s incisive pass to get Villa back on terms.

Clearly irked by letting our lead and command of the game slip, we immediately got back on the front foot in search of redemption. It looked like Jaden Williams had provided just that on 53 minutes as he was neatly played in by Donley before firing home, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. However, we only had to wait a minute longer until our lead was duly restored as Donley got the better of centre-half Luke Softley with some clever footwork before he found the target with a fierce strike. We then almost had a third on the hour mark but, once more, Torraj was denied by Lane.

While our ambition was creating some promising openings for us, we did appear susceptible to the counter and on two occasions, Villa came close to levelling once again. Firstly, Sewell drew another save out of Hayton as he was released with a searching long ball. Substitute Charlie Pavey then almost caught us out on the break but, having progressed into the box, he could only find the frame of the goal.

Ironically, it was a quick break of our own on 77 minutes that clinched the game for us. This time, it was Donley who turned provider as he threaded through substitute Haysman – who had only just come off the bench – and the midfielder showed his composure in the box to pick out the bottom corner. Han Willhoft-King then nearly put the icing on the cake when he was played in by Donley, but he couldn’t quite get the touch required to send the ball past Lane.

'To get a win and a pleasing performance all round was really good'

"The boys were excellent today in a tough game - both teams went for it and it was really pleasing to come out on top," said Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis. "I thought we showed really good resilience after being pegged back just after half-time - to show that courage and bravery to keep playing and doing the right things pleased myself and Ryan (Mason) and it was excellent to see the boys celebrate the third goal because they worked really hard for the result and the three points. On the overall balance of play in the final third, we've probably come away thinking we've not been as clinical as we'd have liked, but there were still some real positives to take from the 90 minutes and to get a win and a pleasing performance all round was really good."