Young Blues win seven-goal thriller

, 14 January, 27comments  |  Jump to most recent
Everton's U18s advanced in the FA Youth Cup with a 4-3 victory over a Birmingham City with George Green's 89th-minute free kick proving to be the winner.

Calum Dyson put the Blues ahead in the first half but they were pegged back shortly before the hour mark by Koby Arhur.

Goals by Courtney Dufus and Green had seemingly put the tie to bed at 3-1 but McFarlane struck with 10 minutes to go to make it 3-2.

Even at 4-3 after Green's piece of set-piece magic, the visitors refused to lie down, with O'Neill ensuring a nervy finish before the referee's whistle called time on an entertaining game.

Everton U18s: Griffiths; Jones, Thorniley, Kenny, Langton; Williams (90' Dowell), Dyson (84' Donohue), Ledson, C Duffus; T Duffus, Charsley (60' Green Y).
Subs not Used: Hewelt, Connolly.

Quotes or other material sourced from EvertonFC.com



Reader Comments (27)

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Aman Kanji
1 Posted 14/01/2014 at 21:26:04
Great win boys. Wish I could have made it..will catch the highlights on Everton TV tomorrow.
Ian Burns
2 Posted 14/01/2014 at 21:36:34
Congratulations boys - would love to see EFC's name on that cup!
Mike Oates
3 Posted 14/01/2014 at 21:52:57
Wonder why Green not starting, booked for taking his shirt off after scoring, maybe getting a bit too flash for big Dunc
Phil Sammon
4 Posted 14/01/2014 at 22:12:00
He's been injured, Mike.

Bit of an unfair suggestion there as well.

John Crawley
5 Posted 14/01/2014 at 22:02:17
Mike 601 I think he's been injured which is why he started on the bench. I went to the game and apart from it being bloody cold in the Upper Bullens it was an entertaining game. The scoreline flatters Birmingham a bit, 4-2 would have been a fairer reflection. The Birmingham number 10 did score a great goal though.

On the whole thought the team played well, very much in the style of the first team. Ledson stood out in midfield before tiring. I was again impressed by Gethin Jones the right back, some of his crossing was excellent. Dyson the wide right midfielder shows some promise. Courtney Dufus had a great game, strong, fast, excellent work rate he was a constant thorn in the side of Birmingham's defenders. Scored a good goal and should have had a penalty.

George Green stood out though when he came on. He has a lot of self belief and what Martinez calls arrogance in his play. He scored two great goals and he looked a different class to the rest of the players on the pitch. Donohue came on for the last 6 minutes on the right wing. He looks rapid and caused the Birmingham defence a few problems, he also laid a great chance on for George Green right at the death and he really should have had his hat-trick.

All-in-all I think we have a number of really promising players in this team and it was a great team performance. I liked the fact that when Williams made a mistake for the 3rd goal, a lot of the players went over to tell him not to worry and gave him a pat on the back. Seems like good team morale as well. Sheedy & Ferguson doing a great job. Lets hope they have another home draw so I can get down to Goodison to watch them again.

Harold Matthews
6 Posted 14/01/2014 at 22:41:48
John. Nice report mate. Appreciated. Good to hear they are playing the Martinez way. One or two of the boys sound quite promising and I hope they continue to progress. Much will depend on how hard they are prepared to work.
Geoff Harrison
7 Posted 14/01/2014 at 22:52:11
Very much agree with John (614) An excellent team performance against a decent Birmingham side. George Green was outstanding once again, but the performance of Courtney Dufus was one of the best examples of all-round forward play, I have seen in an Everton shirt at any level, for a long time. Fingers crossed!

Not sure if the draw's been made, but if they are at home in the next round, they are well worth seeing. (In fact, even if they're away!)

John Crawley
8 Posted 14/01/2014 at 22:59:03
Harold there looks to be quite a bit of promise in this group of players. Reminds me of the Osman, Jeffers, Dunne youth team that won the cup. Like you say the next few years will tell, but if they are prepared to work hard then I think there are a few who could make it with Everton.
John Crawley
9 Posted 14/01/2014 at 23:04:59
Geoff I agree about Courtney Dufus. I've only seen him a couple of times but I've been very impressed with him. He really did give an excellent all round display and was very impressed with the amount of work he got through. Even though he was up top on his own, he was always closing down their central defenders and recovered the ball on numerous occasions. I think he's got everything that you need for a top forward. As Harold says it's really down to how hard he works over the coming years but he's definitely got the potential to make it, from what I have seen.
Geoff Harrison
10 Posted 14/01/2014 at 23:11:07
Damn, It's Millwall or Sheff Wed away!.... We'll have to see.
Phil Sammon
11 Posted 14/01/2014 at 23:14:55
If it's Wednesday I might go down and watch.
Haydn Milloy
14 Posted 15/01/2014 at 00:18:15
George has been injured and had a bad cold, but went in over the weekend to train and try get fit for the game tonight so full credit to him for that.

Courtney had a blinder of a game tonight and I think he has made massive leaps in his progress this season, and as already said he was a real hand full to Birmingham tonight.

George however looks in a different class when he is on the field the whole team seem to play better, he makes things look so easy when he is on the ball.

I would love to see him get a chance against Stevenage in the FA cup.

Great win lads, you all did well, proud of you all.

Phil Sammon
15 Posted 15/01/2014 at 07:02:44
I too would like to see Green given a First Team opportunity. However even in the U18's he often looks like a boy amongst men. Wonderful potential but maybe he needs to mature physically before he is thrown in with the big boys.
Derek Thomas
16 Posted 15/01/2014 at 07:21:19
Phil #697...Bobby Collins??
Phil Sammon
17 Posted 15/01/2014 at 07:33:49
Plenty of other examples too Derek. I just wouldn't want to destroy the kids confidence by feeding him to the lions before he is equipped to deal with it.
Derek Thomas
18 Posted 15/01/2014 at 07:47:48
Phil #702 I know the Prem is an over physical League but if he is good enough he will be big enough, if he isn't good enough being built like Rooney or Barkley will not enter in to it. If big was the thing Vic would be Messi ( who isn't that big )

We must let Bobby assess him and if he is good enough he will no doubt put him in.

Phil Sammon
19 Posted 15/01/2014 at 08:11:48
Derek

The thing is Messi is a small bloke. He was small at 18 and he is small now.

George Green may be small now, but he may fill out as he matures. He may be better bursting onto the scene in a year or two rather than right now. But anyway I agree with your point, if he's good enough then he's old enough. With Barkley being out Green could actually be given 20 minutes in his role against Stevenage. He carries the ball really well through the middle which is something we will miss in the coming weeks.

Ian Burns
20 Posted 15/01/2014 at 08:25:21
Geoff/John/Haydn - sincere thanks for your comments on the youngsters, got me excited just reading the posts!

Your comments are hugely appreciated particularly for those of us who cannot get to GP these days. Thanks again.

Sam Hoare
21 Posted 15/01/2014 at 09:24:42
Thanks for the reports guys. Sounds like we have a really good crop coming through around the 16- to 19-year old level. The trouble is then turning that potential into 20- to 21-year olds who are ready to play in the Premier League of which there are not that many.

George Green sounds an exciting prospect and would be nice to see him on the bench for Stevenage maybe along with Courtney Duffus (whose mother used to be a regular reader on this site).

Dave Lawley
23 Posted 15/01/2014 at 10:10:55
I echo your sentiments Ian.
Derek Thomas
24 Posted 15/01/2014 at 10:43:13
Phil # 712: under OFM, TGT, it would never happen, but with Roberto at the helm anything could happen... made it so Roberto
Haydn Milloy
25 Posted 15/01/2014 at 13:27:27
I think putting George into a prem game is far too soon but a spot on the bench against Stevenage for a couple of the lads in the Under-18s would not be a bad thing seen as most of the Under-21s are out on loan, I just think it could help them to develop.
Ray Atherton
26 Posted 15/01/2014 at 16:57:09
We will have to thank Bradford for giving us George Green, because Harry when at Spurs tried to gazump us again. Bradford honoured our verbal agreement.

Quite commendable in this greedy industry.

Paul Thompson
27 Posted 15/01/2014 at 17:06:31
Highlights now available - http://members.boardhost.com/peoplesforum/msg/1389802301.html

Cracking goals from Green, especially the free kick.

Patrick Murphy
28 Posted 15/01/2014 at 17:14:51
Chairman Bill - has made a statement on the Official Site - just saying how proud he is of the club and of all of the hard work that is put in by the staff.

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/2014/01/15/message-from-the-chairman

Phil Sammon
29 Posted 15/01/2014 at 17:37:56
Some great goals from both sides. Well worth a watch.
Phil Roberts
31 Posted 16/01/2014 at 10:34:29
I would like to see some of these youngsters being loaned out to the Swedish leagues over the summer. Slightly similar style to England but not as quick. They would not be out of place and give them some nice regular football.

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