Season › 2018-19 › News U18s leave it late at Arsenal Tuesday, 4 December, 2018 12comments | Jump to most recent Everton U18s pulled off a dramatic late comeback to beat Arsenal 2-1 in the Premier League Cup The young Blues faced Arsenal in Group D, with Everton leading the mini-table after wins over Fulham (2-1) and West Brom (10-0). Arsenal had dominated the opening period, with midfielder Matt Smith scoring to give them the advantage heading into the break. The young Blues remained a goal down with just 10 minutes to go against the Gunners but Kieran Phillips equalised from the spot after and Ellis Simms had been fouled, and then Simms rifled home in the 4th minute of added time to complete a thrilling turnaround. The 2-1 victory means the Under-18s qualify from the competition with a 100-per-cent record, having won three games from three in Group D. nal Simms won the penalty that Phillips converted, before goalscorer turned provider for the last-gasp winner. Between them, the pair have now racked up 39 goals for the Toffees this season. As U18s Premier League leaders, they are safely through to next stages of the Premier League Cup and the FA Youth Cup and now have a break from competitive action, with their next game away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 12. Everton U18s: Tyrer, Zuk, Warren, Joe Anderson, Astley, Iversen, Hunt, Hughes, Simms, Phillips (c), Quirk. Subs: Barrett, Warnock, Thompson, Neves, Hosie. Reader Comments (12) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Brian Murray 1 Posted 04/12/2018 at 19:22:54 That lad Simms again. Got to be an upgrade on Niasse or Calvert-Lewin on bench. He could be our taffy Owen. Let him loose on the Premier League, Marco! Simon Smith 2 Posted 04/12/2018 at 22:29:14 How many goals do you have to hit to make the upgrade???Simms has to be used in the U23s at least! Jay Wood[BRZ] 3 Posted 04/12/2018 at 22:35:32 Simms only turns 18 in January.He has already made a couple of appearances for the U-23s and scored within 10 minutes of his debut.No need to rush his progress, least of all to the first team. He has plenty of time for that.Given the goals he is scoring, I am sure everyone at Finch Farm is aware of the fellah and have a development plan in place for him. Phill Thompson 4 Posted 05/12/2018 at 09:50:01 That's a pretty good result against an Arsenal side who have been one of the top performers in their Southern Division. Simms, earned the penalty but let Phillips take it, I seem to remember a similar situation when Phillips took a penalty when Simms could have had a hat-trick. A sign of good team spirit, but wouldn't mind it if Simms was grabbing the goal and wanting to take the penalties too! Mike Allison 5 Posted 05/12/2018 at 09:59:51 Daft comment, Brian. Calvert-Lewin is a very promising young striker in his own right. Having it your way, we'd put Simms on the bench now; then, when he's 21, we'll run out of patience, decide he's not good enough, and then get rid of him too. Developing young players isn't just about hyping up the youngest one you can find, it's a long journey from youth football to the modern Premier League and the players need support and encouragement at every step of the way. Phill Thompson 6 Posted 05/12/2018 at 10:39:45 Very true, Mike – it is a long journey. Simms can have this season and next at U23s, a year on loan say at a Championship or League One club, and we still have a 20-year-old in 2021 who may not be ready to start in the Premier League, few 20-year-old strikers are. He's improved tremendously in what 16 months as a full-time Scholar. Our coaching development of him has been fantastic as he's gone from a big, slightly clumsy goalscorer who missed more than he scored to a confident young striker who believes he can score whenever he gets the ball. We just don't know how good he'll be when he steps up to U23s, but it's exciting anticipating it! Kevin Prytherch 7 Posted 05/12/2018 at 15:03:20 I watched him against Oldham in the Checkatrade Trophy and, to be honest, he looked out of his depth. That was against seasoned pros such as Peter Clarke though. A gradual step up will be better for him.It's worth noting that Bassala Sambou also looked well out his depth in that game as well. Brian Murray 8 Posted 05/12/2018 at 19:55:59 Mike Alisson. Each to his own, kidda! A natural goalscorer is there or not. Doesn't matter if he's 18 or 23. It can't be coached – as Calvert-Lewin is finding out. Just an opinion and probably slightly desperate to unearth one as soon as possible for us all to enjoy. Jay Wood[BRZ] 9 Posted 06/12/2018 at 20:35:15 Link to the club's brief highlights video of the goals.LinkSimms does well to win us the penalty for the equaliser, then be involved in the build-up to his own goal which he finishes in style. I like the way he cuts across the backtracking defender to effectively deny him the chance of getting a tackle in without risking conceding another penalty before sticking the ball home.Way too premature to promote him to the 1st team squad at this stage. Brian Murray 10 Posted 06/12/2018 at 20:48:47 Jay Wood. Premature and maybe knee-jerk because we have no natural finisher but needs must. Calvert-Lewin is never the answer at the top level. Simms might be and Sambou deserves a shot maybe as well. The alternative is Moshiri spending a tidy sum in January or the summer. It's all getting a bit painful watching our best front man trying to carry us . Dave Abrahams 11 Posted 07/12/2018 at 22:39:11 Brian (10), the young lad Simms was given a bollocking at half-time by the coach for not grading and getting involved enough.I saw him in the FA Youth Cup when he scored two good goals but drifted in and out of the game. He looks like a natural scorer. The first time I've seen him live, but I would have to see him a few more times to form an opinion of him. In the meantime, let's continue to learn and improve in the U18s and slowly in the U23s. Dave Abrahams 12 Posted 07/12/2018 at 22:53:47 That should have read: for not grafting and getting involved enough. Sorry. Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads