Champions!

[Madmax 9,219]

....of the Reserve league!

Chelsea are champions of the Barclays Premier Reserve League South and will contest a play-off against Manchester United or Blackburn next week to decide the national champions.

Steve Holland's side needed a win to overtake Arsenal in the table and dominated Monday evening's match from start to finish.

It is the first time Chelsea have won a reserve title since we were Football Combination champions in 1994 in the days when Eddie Niedzwiecki was coach and Kevin Hitchcock, David Lee, Gareth Hall and Robert Fleck were in the side.

Well done lads! :cfc:

[Steve 10,227]

RESERVE REPORT: CHELSEA 3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0

Chelsea are champions of the Barclays Premier Reserve League South and will contest a play-off against Manchester United or Blackburn next week to decide the national champions.

Steve Holland's side needed a win to overtake Arsenal in the table and dominated Monday evening's match from start to finish.

It is the first time Chelsea have won a reserve title since we were Football Combination champions in 1994 in the days when Eddie Niedzwiecki was coach and Kevin Hitchcock, David Lee, Gareth Hall and Robert Fleck were in the side.

The class of 2011 did the damage against Wolves through goals from George Saville, Adam Phillip and Gokhan Tore, with Josh McEachran pulling plenty of strings with his passing from a deep midfield role, Milan Lalkovic stretching Wolves with his running and the defence standing firm. It was an all-round team effort.

Conor Clifford set the pattern for the game just three minutes in with a sweet first-time shot, tipped round the post at full-stretch by Wolves keeper Aaron McCarey. He had to make a two-handed diving stop from Milan Lalkovic three minutes later when the Slovakian curled a shot early from the edge of the area.

It took just a minute more for Chelsea to take the lead and this time McCarey had been left helpless after Phillip powered beyond right-back Matthew Doherty and cut out the keeper with a pass. The strong-running Saville (pictured below centre) tapped in.

Phillip (above second left) could have added a second from similar range after Todd Kane found him with a cross following a brilliant ball from his own half from McEachran. The Blues were well on top.

The ball kept coming into the visitors' area with menace and a Lalkovic cross looked to be seeking out Kane in the six-yard area but the advanced right-back couldn't direct his header.

The second goal arrived on 24 minutes thanks to a Gomes moment from the Wolves keeper. Phillip's 20-yard shot was firmly struck but shouldn't have found a way through the legs of McCarey who was far too close to the line to stop the ball anywhere near it on this occasion. It was the striker's eighth reserve goal of the season.

The keeper acquitted himself far better on 33 minutes with a save when a stretching Lalkovic stabbed goalwards after Chelsea captain Ryan Bertrand had left John Gorman in his wake and crossed.

Wolves manufactured their first genuine chance soon after but Leigh Griffiths shinned the ball wide when found by a clever free-kick.

Lalkovic should have done better when Chelsea outnumbered Wolves on the break after George Saville had nicked possession and then McEachran was only inches away but cleared the crossbar when the ball was played back to him on the edge of the area.

Lalkovic was denied again before the break with a shot deflected over the bar. Adam Phillip then had his head in his hands when he rolled the ball wide in stoppage time with only the keeper to beat.

So the Blues had to settle for a 2-0 lead at the interval. It could well have been 4-0 or 5-0 with some more composed or more fortunate finishing.

There was no messing from Tore just two minutes into the second-half when he made it 3-0 with a low right-foot finish after Phillip had split the defence.

This Chelsea side was enjoying itself and when Tore found Bertrand in space, the left-back had an ambitious shot tipped wide.

Tore had the chance for a second goal on the hour but blazed over after making space for a shot before there was a rare save for Ross Turnbull to make when Liam McAlinden shot at him.

The rest of the game passed with no further chances for the Black Country side so all that was left was for the a champagne celebration to take place on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

'We talked about one or two things after losing to Man City last week such as pressurising which we normally do well and the tempo of our play,' said reserve team manager Steve Holland, 'and did those things very well right from the start tonight.

'We got on top early and never let our foot off the gas apart from late on. It's a credit to the players and we could have more goals, but three will do! Another game at the Bridge will be good experience for the players.'

The south v north play-off is over one game and with the provisional date set for next Monday at Stamford Bridge. Man United and Blackburn play each other for the right to face Chelsea on Wednesday.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Ross Turnbull; Todd Kane, Tomas Kalas, Carl Magany, Ryan Bertrand © (Aziz Deen-Conteh 82); Conor Clifford, Josh McEachran, George Saville (Michael Woods 75); Gokhan Tore, Milan Lalkovic (Bobby Devyne 88), Adam Phillip.

Wolves (4-4-2): Aaron McCarey; Matthew Doherty, Michael Ikiewhe, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Ashley Hemmings; John Gorman (Robert Parry 56), Nathan Rooney ©, Anthony Forde (Sam Whittall 82), Liam McAlinden (Jake Kempton 84); Leigh Griffths, Jake Cassidy.

Chelsea FC

[termninja 5,290]

Congrats to the lads, at least they are winning some titles XD So we shall not finish this season without a trophy

[Madmax 9,219]

I just posted the topic

[eldo 868]

Well done. But they still have final to play. It's not over yet.

[Blueboy 14]

Another sign that our academy is continualy producing better and more talented youngsters, the question is if and, if so, when we are going to use them in the future. Next season is going to be very important for us in that aspect. Are we finally going to see some youngsters get the chance next season at the expense of some of the older players? I really hope so because this is just another thing to add to list in the last few years where the boys show that they have great talent, and we certainly can use some of that on the creative side of our team!

Congrats boys!

[LDN Blue 7,903]

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

It just shows how good our young players are.Fantastic !

Well done !

[Kez 2,727]

Some good news from this season & exciting for the future. Well done lads!

[eldo 868]

I'm curious what will happen with some of them next season. Mostly interested in Tore, he's amazing.

[Rambo 1,729]

Carlo should stay after all.

[EskWeston 696]

A big achievment for the club. We are usually no-where near the top of the reserves league. But we are producing some excellent young players and it is showing. The Final of the North v South is likely to be against United so another showdown with Man U is on the horizon.

Last night was pure domination, Wolves didn't get anywhere near a sniff. Some top performances. Gokhan Tore was brilliant showed all he has learned this season. Tomas Kalas has for me been top class since his arrival in January and looks an exciting prospect. Josh was sublime in the holding role with some excellent throughballs to the forward even from that deep. Top stuff.

[termninja 5,290]

Anyone got highlights of the Wolves game?

[ack17 205]

What role is McEachran playing in reverse team, holding midfield or attacking midfield?

[EskWeston 696]

Anyone got highlights of the Wolves game?

Yes i will be making extended highlights of the game that will be uploaded to my Youtube page on Friday...

What role is McEachran playing in reverse team, holding midfield or attacking midfield?

Usually he plays Attacking midfield, but last night and on a couple of other occasions he has played holding midfielder under Carlo's instruction.

[TotallySnivy 3]

There are some really exciting lads in the Reserve Team. Hope Carlo can accommodate them into his first team next season!

[Tomo 21,733]

The youth cup last season and now the reserve league this season shows our youth team are outstanding and only going to get better, our U14's thumping City 9-0 is clear proof of that and i honestly think we can have half of these in our 1st team squad (Mceachran, 2 Clifford's, Tore, Chalaboah, ADC etc etc)

[eldo 868]

We're playing against Blackburn in the play-off final.