Aston Villa Youth v Chelsea FC Youth

[NattyBlue 44]

Good for the lads to get some real support too

[warnie_666 1,081]

Without doubt, this is an exceptional group of players. Should have won the game and still didn't play anywhere near the level that they can.

Josh McEachran - sensational player, unbelievable skill. Definately a name to look out for in the future.

MHL - sold out, West Stand Lower - sold out, Shed Lower - almost sold. Going to be a big crowd which will be terrific.

Esk, Do you think this lot is better than the lot played in the Final two season back. (I am talking about the Kakuta, Stoch, Mellis...Batch)

Also, DD hailed Kaby is a Midfield Dynamo. By his description, Kaby looks like a midfielder in an Essien mould.

[TIWATZ 64]

You just now that Bruma will be one of the worlds best CB in a few years.

[NattyBlue 44]

I think he actually will be.

The team that we can have in 3 seasons time looks interesting.

Kaby is indeed a Dynamo, I wouldn't say Essien like though

he's more like Deco when Deco plays DMF

[Badboy 1,526]

Esk, Do you think this lot is better than the lot played in the Final two season back. (I am talking about the Kakuta, Stoch, Mellis...Batch)

Also, DD hailed Kaby is a Midfield Dynamo. By his description, Kaby looks like a midfielder in an Essien mould.

He has some of essien's skills but he also is very creative with really quick feet, soooooooooo tricky lol !

[EskWeston 696]

Esk, Do you think this lot is better than the lot played in the Final two season back. (I am talking about the Kakuta, Stoch, Mellis...Batch)

Also, DD hailed Kaby is a Midfield Dynamo. By his description, Kaby looks like a midfielder in an Essien mould.

Very hard to say. This group certainly work better as a team. But there were some fantastic individuals in that team that have gone on to do very well, Kakuta, Stoch, Mellis, Van Aanholt, Rhys Taylor. But this group has massive massive potential, this group could very well prove to be better...

[EskWeston 696]

A classy free-kick goal from Jeffrey Bruma gave Chelsea Under 18s a draw they more than deserved from this opening 90 minutes of the two-legged tie. The Dutch centre-back, the one player in the Blues side with first-team experience, equalised with his third goal of the cup run to set up what should be a thrilling second leg at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, a game that will be exclusively live of Chelsea TV.

Our Academy players were clearly the better side at drizzly Villa Park, knocking the ball about well across the damp turf in front of a crowd of 3,359. They hit the Villa woodwork no less than three times in the course of the game and saw a shot cleared off the line. Yet it was the home team who took a first-half lead and could have had another before the interval but for a Sam Walker save.

However Chelsea always looked likely to break through given the pressure they mounted and the equaliser came midway through the second half. The away-goals rule is not in operation in this competition.

It had been a settled side throughout the previous rounds with an outstanding defence but an injury for Danny Mills Pappoe in training this week meant the schoolboy centre-back, previously ever-present in the run to the Final, missed out.

His place was taken by Rohan Ince, a natural replacement having returned from a knee injury that kept him out of the first half of the season.

Ince was Bruma's partner in central defence in the Youth Cup last season when he was still a schoolboy. At 6ft 3ins tall, he ensured Pappoe's injury didn't mean Chelsea were losing out on height at the back.

The young Blues enjoyed plenty of early possession before the first shot. Conor Clifford, who is never afraid to try his luck from distance, struck one straight at the keeper.

The game then shifted up a gear when Josh McEachran sprayed a great pass under pressure out to Gokhan Tore (pictured below) who feed and took a return from Aziz Deen-Conteh. The Turkish Under 21 international used his close control to beat a man before shooting low. The ball was deflected behind for a corner.

It was from the deadball delivery that Marko Mitrovic struck the bar with a flicked near-post header. There were eight minutes played.

Ten minutes later came Villa's goal, scored completely against the run of play. A corner, given away cheaply by Ince, was punched clear by Walker but when it was clipped back in by Richard Blythe, Villa centre-back Daniel Devine rose high above Mitrovic to loop a header over the stranded Chelsea keeper. It was only the second goal the team had conceded in seven cup games.

Chelsea were instantly back up the pitch hitting woodwork for a second time. Mitrovic had bustled through a challenge in the box and when the ball came McEachran's way on the edge of the area, his curled effort slammed onto the bar and away to safety.

Deen-Conteh, bursting forward from left-back again, worked the keeper from a tight angle after a flowing Chelsea move started again by midfield string-puller McEachran.

It was Dermot Drummy's side continuing to play all the football but it took Walker with his legs to prevent a second Villa goal when Kofi Posner escaped the two centre-backs in a crowded spot.

Mitrovic was booked when the Chelsea centre-forward caught Blythe with his arm as he challenged for a high ball,

Villa keeper Benjamin Siegrist then repelled a threat from Mitrovic and McEachran after Billy Clifford's teasting ball towards his near post.

Bruma asked more questions with an excellent curling cross before half time but at the interval Chelsea were still behind.

Drummy would surely have told his players to keep calm and just do what they had been doing - the occasion not hindering their natural game.

The second half began in similar vein to the first - Chelsea on top and probing for a genuine sight on goal. Ince did well to block off one Villa attack before captain Conor Clifford drifted a 54^th minute shot wide at the other end.

Samir Carruthers made it one booking apiece with a bodycheck on the same Chelsea player moments later, before a stretching Mitrovic just failed to make contact with a Kaby cross.

Chelsea were cursing their luck again on 63 minutes when Derrick Williams slipped in the Villa area and McEachran pounced to tee up Mitrovic, but Williams made it back to head a stinging shot off the line.

The Blues only had to wait another two minutes for their just desserts. The home side conceded a free-kick 20 yards out in a central position that meant a chance for Bruma. The curl on the shot from the Dutch Under 21 international was just enough to clear the wall and the dive of Siegrist.

On 71 minutes Chelsea made the first substitution of the game. Conor Clifford, who had injury concerns in the weeks building up to this game, was replaced by Lalkovic. The Slovakian sub played wide with Jacopo Sala moving infield.

There could have been danger from the home team after Kaby (pictured below) conceded a free-kick as Carruthers broke dangerously following a Bruma mistake, but Carruthers wasted the set-piece shooting chance spectacularly.

Then Villa sub Ansenio Halfhuid didn't make the most of another counter-attack as Chelsea wobbled briefly inside the final 10 minutes.

The third time the away team hit the woodwork came with a minute of the 90 left, Sala this time the player denied. Villa had cleared a Tore free-kick but only as far as McEachran who calmly laid off to the Italian for a sweet strike from the edge of the area against the outside of the post.

There was a late injury for Deen-Conteh who had been excellent in defence and as an attacking full-back. He limped away with a minute remaining having fallen into advertising boards.

The final score was the same as the first leg of the Final in 2008 when Chelsea eventually lost out to Manchester City.

Unlike two years ago, the second leg is at the Bridge and hopefully with a good crowd backing them, a performance of similar quality to tonight will see the Under 18s lift this trophy for the first time since 1961.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Sam Walker; Billy Clifford, Rohan Ince, Jeffrey Bruma, Aziz-Deen Conteh (Ben Sampayo 90+3); Aliu 'Kaby' Djalo, Josh McEachran, Conor Clifford © (Milan Lalkovic 71); Jacopo Sala, Marko Mitrovic, Gokhan Tore.

Villa (4-4-2): Benjamin Siegrist; Durrell Berry, Daniel Devine, Derrick Williams, Ellis Deeney; Ebby Nelson-Addy, Richard Blythe, Samir Carruthers, Tomos Roberts; Ryan Simmonds (Ansenio Halfhuid 82), Kofi Poyser (Darius Darkin 79).

Source: Chelsea FC

[EskWeston 696]

EskWeston's Player Reviews:

Sam Walker: Sam maybe could be a little at fault for the Villa goal but could also be a little harsh. He didn't have too many saves to make and wasn't in the game much but when called upon he dealt with what he was given very well. 6

Billy Clifford: Not used as attacking as he had been in previous games but when he did get forward he was dangerous. Defensively he was good too, would like to more of him in an attacking sense in the return game and to keep the Villa winger under wraps. 7

Aziz Deen-Conteh: Not one of Aziz's better games at times he was found a little bit wanting defensively but he still put in a solid game and was very rarely caught out. Got forward very well through the game and especially in the first half linked up very well with Gokhan Tore.

Jeffrey Bruma Another impressive game from Jeffrey, solid as we would expect him to be. Won all the headers and led the team very well indeed. His goal was another very neatly taken free kick that he is starting to stick away with some regularity. 8

Rohan Ince: I was very dissapointed to see that Danny Pappoe hadn't made the game. He has been a real rock and i have never felt as comfortable with Rohan, i had always felt there was a tendency for sloppyness. Fair enough he has been out for a very long time with injury but the difference between Rohan and Danny was clear, would like to see Rohan a bit more solid for the return leg. 6

Connor Clifford: Connor had a decent enough game but i would like to be seeing more from him. Was probably carrying a little knock which came back near the end of the game which may have hindered him but Connor needs to be driving the team a lot more than he did in this game. Still some very good work from him at times but Connor can offer more to us. 6

Kaby Djalo: A typical Kaby performance. Tenacious with lots of ability, he is becomming a very tidy little player and is making a good role for himself in this youth team. Since working his way into the team he has been a vital part of it and hopefully we will see him continue this into the next tie, Kaby is playing at a good level at the moment. 7

Josh McEachran: Very very high quality from Josh, maybe not as often on the ball as we would like but when he is on the ball he is very much of the highest quality, his ball skills are second to none and it is so hard for the opposition to get the ball off him. At times he maybe is a little too casual but hopefully with age that will improve. 8

Jacopo Sala: Sala was a little dissapointing to be honest and should have been offering more. I still think he is best deployed in the middle of the park and when he moved there he did well. Missing for a lot of the game and wasn't invovled no way near enough. Need a big improvement from him for the second leg. 6

Gokhan Tore: Im afraid Gokhan was guilty of overdoing things last night. Way too many step overs and not enough cut and thrust from him. At times we saw what Gokhan was capable of but not enough and he never did as much as what we have come to expect of him and what we should be seeing. Much more needed from Gokhan. 6

Marko Mitrovic: Did OK and had some good chances, unlucky with a couple of headers and with 1 goal cleared off the line too, maybe could have had more from him and was a little hindered from winning headers when the ref pulled him up for fouls when there was none while jumping for headers. 7

Highlights:

[Ollie 4,400]

Very bad crowd by the looks of it. Sounds like we're close to selling out our home leg and looks like there was no-one there at villa park. Be great for us to seal the deal and win it at the bridge.

[NattyBlue 44]

As far as I know, online the tickets have sold out, I'm going to the game, we should make it a good one for the lads!

And I think they'll look back at their BBurn performance and want to replicate it.

[magic weeds 446]

BRUMA is a legend in the making (full stop)

[warnie_666 1,081]

Future Captain I see Bruma as.

Edited May 1, 2010 by warnie_666

[NattyBlue 44]

He is a leader in the team but I think it would be an Englishmen, that's just how I see it going

[magic weeds 446]

He is a leader in the team but I think it would be an Englishmen, that's just how I see it going

true. I think Captain will have to be an Englishman.

and after JT, who do you think can be our next captain?

[NattyBlue 44]

Hmmm, a toughy that one, Lamps and JT will be gone by then.

Sam Hutchinson if he makes it all the way! and Jack Cork vice capt lol

[magic weeds 446]

Sam would make a good captain. hope he makes it all the way to regular first team football.

[warnie_666 1,081]

That Guy Josh McEchran, is soooo smooth on the ball. Amazing skill. Needs to Bulk up a Bit, but my, hi ball control is amazing!!

When is the return leg at Bridge?

[Cameron 30]

Tomorrow.