Marine dump Everton U18s out of Liverpool Senior Cup

They lost 4-1 at the same stage to the same club last year.

I know at least one ToffeeWebber will be happy with the result and happier still if Marine got a good attendance tonight to go with the win.

There was plenty of beer being consumed before and during the game, much of it in 2-pint tumblers, so the club's coffers will have done well.

The kickoff was delayed for 15-20 minutes. I was told the Everton team bus did not turn up and some players had to make their own way to College Road. The mini-bus from Finch Farm, including the kit, was then delayed on the M57. I hope this isn't a portent of how the first team will have to travel in the coming years.

I don't particularly follow the fortunes of the younger Everton teams, so did not recognise many names. They were up against what is currently a formidable Marine team which is in a playoff position in their league, scoring plenty of goals. It showed.

After a cagey first half hour, Marine began to realise they were the superior team and scored 2 in a minute. The other 2 goals came after the break, and Everton were rather flattered by the final scoreline.

Having gone to the game fairly relaxed, I became quite glum at the poverty of the Blues' performance. I was thinking that, if we are given a transfer ban, the club would be in trouble if we had to rely on these lads in a season or two.

I learned towards the end of the game that Everton's team was very young, so their display was perhaps understandable and excusable. I would still have liked to see a bit more coherent style of play, and more resilience and tenacity.

For the Mariners, however, it is a move into the semifinals and a step nearer to retaining the beautiful old trophy.

Marine: 1 Luke Hutchinson, 2 Scott Butler,
3 Matty Waters, 4 Harvey Gregson, 5 Chris Doyle,
6 Josh Wardle, 7 Finlay Sinclair-Smith,
8 Louis White, 9 Bobby Grant, 10 Sol Solomon,
11 Owen Robinson

Subs: 12 Tom Pratt, 13 Richard Cowderoy,
14 Jon Routledge, 15 Joseph Ferguson,
16 Liam Nolan, 17 Chris Happi-Fankam.

Everton: 1 George Pickford, 2 Odin Samuels-Smith, 3 Josh Van Schoor, 4 Brad Moonan, 5 Reece Welsh, 6 Edward Jones, 7 Isaac Heath, 8 Callum Bates, 9 Coby Ebere, 10 Harrison Armstrong, 11 Kingsford Boakye.

Subs: 12 Douglas Lukjanciks, 14 Aled Thomas, 15 Luca Davis, 16 Harvey Foster, 17 Jacob Beaumont-Clark

(I wore my Marine shirt to the gym today.)

Supporting grass roots and local teams. The result at youth level isn't important. It's about development and learning. There is my scratched record moment.

Everton have won the Liverpool Senior Cup more times than any other club — 46!!!

The last time Everton won was in 2015-16, when they beat Prescot Cables in the final.

Another Liverpool Senior Cup many will remember was the 4-3 win over Liverpool in the final at Goodison, when Ian St John scored a hat trick on his debut for Liverpool around 1961.

The Liverpool Senior Cup trophy is a wonderful work of art, a large gold cup that puts the FA Cup to shame.

While you are right that the main job of coaches at youth level is to produce footballers for the first team, I think, in any sport at any level, results matter.

I have to say it seems all our junior sides are struggling, now that's either because our coaches aren't good enough or our recruitment is poor.

I see our neighbours producing quality youngsters from their academy and Man City also produce top quality local lads.

Just tha,t if we cannot take the Liverpool Senior Cup seriously and field a proper team, then we aren't instilling a winning mentality. Especially if we can't even turn up on time.

Interestingly Man City are bottom of the U23 table but continue to produce good youngsters, so do results matter?

They are 3rd in the U18 table though.

I would care a lot less about our U18 results if I could see quality players coming through.

I think we'd need Peter Mills or another Mariner to confirm those he listed @4 were the first team, but I believe so. Do they even have reserves or junior teams? I don't know.

Over the years, we have transitioned from orginally having the Everton first team play in the Liverpool Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup, as I think Dave's post @8 suggests. Then, sometime in the 1990s (perhaps earlier), it became the Reserves team fulfilling these fixtures. At some point, Everton were given a bye to the quarter-final stage of each competition. There may be an interesting story behind that one!

The Reserves then became Under-21s or Under-23s but still remained competitive with their local rivals. And by 2017 or thereabouts, it was up to the Under-18s to be the local flag bearers for the great old traditions of the club in these storied local competitions. And yes, since that point, I don't think we've won either.

And at some point along the way, our hated cousins just dropped out completely, not even entering the competition. Liverpool not entering the Liverpool Senior Cup? That's showing respect for yer roots, init!

Last year, Man City won the U21 and U18 titles, but it's the quality they produce and have got in their young squads. Foden and Palmer are two of the best midfield players in the country and still very young.

They also have Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb who have both played for Man City this season. Now I agree it's unfair to class us with City at Premier League level, but they produce homegrown kids of a far superior quality than we can of late.

Likewise, our neighbours are able to produce youngsters of a very high quality, year on year. Man Utd, since the arrival of Matt Busby, have kept on producing very good youngsters and most again are local lads.