FA PREMIER ACADEMY LEAGUE

 

Saturday 5th March 2011

 

Everton 1 Manchester City 1

Robinson 38

As you can see from City's team line up that the academy coaching staff are firmly off the opinion that the way forward is to concentrate playing mainly first years and school boys with Bradley Robinson and James Wood being the only two older playing and the staff were rewarded with a fine team performance that so nearly ended in a victory over the older Everton side at their Finch Farm complex.

 

Everton as you would expect came out with the determination to take an early lead and despite City passing the ball about well you could see there was the ocassional gap at the back which Everton exploited in the twelth minute when Femi Orenuga worked his way down the right side and was able to get his cross in that eventually fell to Conor Grant who fired low and hard under the body of Wood from just inside the area.

 

That goal seemed to spur City on and they really got the ball down well and had good movement with confident accurate passing that had the Everton side a little at sixes and sevens at times.

 

City's determination to get back into the game finally saw a breakthrough when the ball came in from the right and twice City were thwarted by either a good save or a block on the line but the fial rebound fell to Bradley Robinson who fired the ball into the back of the goal.

 

The half time break did not seem to disjoint City's effort to go on and try to get something if not a win from this game as they pushed the Everton defence for most of the period but the Toffee defence stood firm and forced their players to get more physical as the game wore on and found themselves with a great save from James Fitzgibbon to deny Robinson and the ball was cleared off the line near the end of the game.

 

Clearly City would have liked to have closed the gap on Everton but not losing ground I feel was more important and seeing the players play much more like a team. Had City had a recognised striker playing in this game then they would have won comfortably.

 

Next up is possibly Wolves this Tuesday at Platt Lane and should be another good test for this young side.

Team:

Wood, Coulson, Plummer,Kennedy, Meppen-Walter, Clowes, Drury, Evans, Robinson, King (Hiwula 83), Henshall (Sellars 64)

Subs: Lawlor (GK), T Skogsrud,K Skogsrud