Quick return to winning ways for Under-18s at Villa

Our Under-18s came out fighting after their midweek setback in the title race to claim a deserved 3-2 victory at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Refusing to give up in pursuit of rivals Arsenal at the top of the table, we dominated the first half and went in at the break 2-0 ahead thanks to an own goal and a penalty from the returning Troy Parrott.

Villa came back into the game in the second period and reduced the deficit with a penalty of their own through Colin Odutayo but Maurizio Pochettino was on hand to quickly add a third goal for us with a tidy finish. Ben Guy fired back for the hosts once more at Bodymoor Heath but we kept the game largely under control in the final 22 minutes to make a quick return to winning ways in the Under-18 Premier League.

With Arsenal also claiming maximum points against Reading, we must beat Chelsea on Wednesday and Leicester on the last day of the domestic season while the Gunners need to drop points at Fulham if we’re to claim the southern division crown.

It took us just six minutes to break the deadlock at Villa as Elliot Thorpe stole possession high up the pitch, peeled off to the left and crossed for Parrott, with a defender accidentally getting the last touch just in front of the striker to divert the ball into his own net.

Goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi saved Guy’s low strike brilliantly down to his left in the home side’s best chance of the first period before Parrott – back from a two-month injury lay-off – tucked home our second from the spot after Chay Cooper was bundled over in the box by Jack Birch 10 minutes before the interval.

Villa reversed the roles five minutes after the resumption as Oluwayemi was adjudged to have clipped Jaden Philogene-Bidace in the box and Odutayo scored from 12 yards for 2-1 but, seven minutes later, our two-goal lead was restored when Cooper weaved his way in from the left before picking out Pochettino in the box on the far side, with the winger pulling the ball down and drilling in from the angle.

Centre-forward Aaron Pressley was inches wide in the moments that followed but when Guy twisted and turned in the box before lashing in at the far post following a half-cleared corner mid-way through the half, Villa were right back in the game again. It needed a last-ditch sliding tackle from Thorpe to deny Philogene-Bidace while Pressley headed just over from the resulting corner, but that was as close as the home side came to snatching a point. Meanwhile, we might have added a fourth when Raffety Pedder produced a great turn in midfield and released fellow substitute Tarrelle Whittaker with a through ball in the left channel but the slightest of touches from goalkeeper Akos Onodi saw the striker’s effort steered behind.

Key moment

Villa gained belief when Odutayo scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 in the early exchanges of the second half but, importantly, we remained composed and had our two-goal cushion back inside seven minutes thanks to a fine finish from Pochettino. With Villa scoring a second through Guy later on, that goal proved the difference between the sides in the final reckoning.

Coach’s view

Head of Academy Coaching and Player Development John McDermott said: “Traditionally Aston Villa away has been a really tough game for us and, at this stage of the season, there’s different players selected from different age groups, so to get that normal cohesion was tough. The first half was really good, in the second half the game was a bit more scruffy but we got through it and it was a good learning process.

“What we’re getting now, towards the end of the season, is opportunities for lots of players. I was really pleased with the contributions of the Under-16s in the squad today but also when players are with the Under-23s or out with injury, you can just see now which players have got the personality to step up into the shoes of maybe some of the bigger characters. Yes, it was good to bounce back from Arsenal but probably what I got out of today was to see some other players and to see players in different positions. We had to adapt and it’s a really good test to see people when they’re outside of their comfort zone and see how they deal with these situations.”