Forthcoming Fixtures

City fielded a few changes from its more regular starting line up with Emeryck Hippias,making his first full start of the season coming in for the injured Harry Bunn and Tom Skogsrud and George King also starting.

That need not have worried the regular academy followers as City kept a tight ship and finished winners thanks to a chance from Alex Henshall in the first half to send City joint top of the group with Everton.

The game started twenty minutes late with the visitors apparently getting lost on the way to Platt Lane and then it was further delayed as there was a minutes silence before the game which we never found the reason for(but on reflection it could have been for Nat Lofthouse); but we suspect it was probably Blackburn related rather than City as they did not wear black arm bands as they have done in the past.

The game did not have a great start as neither team really worried either's defences too much with clear chances.

City took the lead just over the half hour mark when Hippias played a great cross field forward pass to Henshall to knock forward and burst into the area, on the left before firing with his left boot across the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the goal.

Blackburn continued to push for more possession but City's defence were resolute and they found little space for any real openings.

Blackburn however started the second half more brightly and they got in down their left and fired a similar shot that Henshall had fired in across goal but experienced goalkeeper James Wood saved well but could not hold the ball and it fell to  the Blackburn player, number 7, Micah Evans's whose follow finish was woeful as he hit the bar from an open goal just six yards out.

City again got to grips with the game and a defelected shot from Joan Angel in the sixty seventh minute drew a very fine save from the Blackburn goalkeeper to keep them in it.

City used all their subs and the differing players that came on seemed to get Blackburn on the wrong foot and they created much more and Henshall's quality corners should have forced more from the Blackburn defence but in the end one goal was enough to win the game and they will be glad of the clean sheet after too many defensive lapses recently.

City needed to win by two goals to go above Everton on goals scored as they would have been level on goal difference. Everton do not play this weekend because they play Middlesbrough in the youth cup; ironically we would have faced the winners of that match had we made it through ourselves past Nottingham Forest last week.

Team:

Wood, Morrissey (Coulson 54), T Skogsrud, Kennedy, Meppen-Walters, Clowes, King (Rusnak 63) , Evans, Hippias, Roman-Angel (Robinson 79), Henshall

Subs: Halsall(GK), K Skosgrud

The U16's played the following day at Platt Lane, but with over night frost making parts of the grass pitches unplayable the game was moved over to the 3g astro pitch, where a young City side went down 0-2