U21, Youth and Ladies 2013/14

[eastie]

Gary Gardner and Joe Bennett got some match action under their belts as Villa U21s slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Reading.

First-half goals from Craig Tanner and Jack Stacey were enough to secure victory for the Royals, who were good value for the three points in the clash at Bodymoor Heath.

But Villa first team manager Paul Lambert will have been boosted by the sight of senior duo Gardner and Bennett completing 90 minutes.

The claret and blues made a bright start with Graham Burke curling an effort just wide after collecting Jordan Bowery's knockdown.

It took just 10 minutes, though, for the visitors to take the lead.

Tanner stepped up to score from the spot after the referee awarded a penalty for a trip on Gozie Ugwu.

With nine minutes to go in the first period, Stacey curled in a superb effort from a tight angle to make it 2-0.

Bowery headed straight at Stuart Moore and Burke forced the keeper into a save but Gordon Cowans' team went in at the break with plenty of work to do.

Reading started the second half strongly and Brad Watkins did well to save Ugwu's effort with his feet.

Then the Villa keeper dived to his left to brilliantly deny Tanner, before Stacey's follow-up was blocked by Brad Lewis.

Gardner fired wide with a succession of long-range shots, including one following an indirect free-kick which was awarded when keeper Moore was penalised for holding on to the ball for too long.

Moore redeemed himself late on by standing tall to thwart Burke from point blank range.

Villa finished the game with 10 men after Lewis received a second yellow card for a foul.

VILLA: Watkins, Webb, Bennett, Gardner, Lewis, Kinsella, Burke, Robinson, Bowery, Johnson (c), Sellars. Subs: O'Brien, Grant, Abdo [for Sellars 73], McKirdy, Wildin.

READING: Moore, Keown, Griffin, Tshibola, Sweeney, Hector, Stacey, Kuhl, Ugwu, Tanner, Fosu-Henry. Subs: Long, Lincoln, Hylam, Fridjonsson, Murombedzi.

[fredm]

Wonder if the third paragraph means PL was actually watching?

[paul_e]

Wonder if the third paragraph means PL was actually watching?

I believe he watches most of the U21 and U19 games.  He's certainly been at all of the ones I've seen that weren't on the same day as the first team were playing.

I'm very happy that Gardner got 90minutes, not getting another midfielder in January looks like it was a big mistake but if Gardner can get fully fit in the next couple of weeks and force his way into the mix hopefully he can be that player.  We may as well give him a few months to earn a new contract now, if he takes it we could have a very good player on our hands, he's highly rated by a lot of people in the game but has had awful luck with injuries in the last few years, I really want him to make it, he deserves something good out of the game now.

[Legion]

Chelsea U12s 2 Aston Villa U12s 3

[Mister E]

Wonder if the third paragraph means PL was actually watching?

I believe he watches most of the U21 and U19 games.  He's certainly been at all of the ones I've seen that weren't on the same day as the first team were playing.

I'm very happy that Gardner got 90minutes, not getting another midfielder in January looks like it was a big mistake but if Gardner can get fully fit in the next couple of weeks and force his way into the mix hopefully he can be that player.  We may as well give him a few months to earn a new contract now, if he takes it we could have a very good player on our hands, he's highly rated by a lot of people in the game but has had awful luck with injuries in the last few years, I really want him to make it, he deserves something good out of the game now.

I was pleased to see Bennett got some game time yesterday against the Spammers, and he didn't discgrace himself. Although flaky last season, he was often unfairly made a scapegoat and it would be restorative to see him emerge with some potential.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

U21's currently losing 3-5 to Fulham including a freak goal for Fulham keeper Marek Rodak. His long clearance catches the strong wind and is carried all the way into the Villa net, completely deceiving Benji Siegrist.

[Simon Ward]

Villa finished up empty handed after table-topping Fulham scored three late goals in a ding-dong encounter at Bodymoor Heath.

The two sides somehow coped with the horrendous conditions to produce an eight-goal thriller at Villa's training headquarters.

Fulham's big-money deadline day signing Konstantinos Mitroglou conjured up two superb finishes to give the visitors an early lead.

But Gordon Cowans' team overturned the two-goal deficit thanks to a Liam Donnelly own goal, Callum Robinson's strike and a penalty from Daniel Johnson.

There was still plenty of time for more twists, though, and after getting back on level terms, Fulham added to further strikes including a freak goal from keeper Marek Rodak.

It took just 19 minutes for Greek forward Mitroglou to show his class when he fired past Benjamin Siegrist from the edge of the box.

Then six minutes later he added a second - a wonderful dipping 25-yard strike.

The hosts were handed a lifeline just before the half-hour mark when Donnelly's header from a Jordan Graham corner ended up in his own net.

Four minutes into the second half, Robinson was well placed at the near post to convert Jordan Bowery's cross from the right.

Bowery was instrumental in Villa's third goal too, winning a penalty after being fouled by Mananga Jonathan Buatu.

Skipper Johnson stepped up to score from the spot and give his side the lead.

Then came the late Fulham onslaught. Cauley Woodrow scored twice in the space of four minutes.

Firstly, he met Lyle Della Verde's corner on the volley to beat Siegrist 12 minutes from time.

Then Woodrow converted from close range after a good run and cross by Donnelly.

The final goal of the game arrived in bizarre circumstances.

Rodak's long clearance bounced once before catching the strong wind and carrying all the way into the Villa net.

[Legion]

West Bromwich Albion U12s 1 Aston Villa U12s 1 (25 mins e/w)
West Bromwich Albion U12s 0 Aston Villa U12s 0 (15 mins e/w)

It's good to see the standard and style of play currently being shown by our first XI is being mirrored at all levels of the academy. Dodgy defending, weak ball retention, giving the ball away regularly, unable to pass to a player in the same colour shirt, continually going sideways across the middle and back, low percentage of possession etc, etc.

Plus you should have seen and heard the reaction from the WBA supporters when they equalised. I'm sure they were ready to arrange for an open-top bus parade.

[Legion]

VILLA: Siegrist, Webb, Wildin, Stieber, Toner, Kinsella, Graham, Burke, Sellars, Johnson (c), Robinson. Subs: Calder, Watkins, R Strain, Abdo, T Strain

[dekko]

1-0 Villa, Burke free kick

[dekko]

2-0 Villa. Acrobatic finish from a corner by Sellers

[dekko]

3-0 Burke.

End to end stuff, not a bad game now its got going.

[olaftab]

End to end? Sounds like our end to their end only.

[dekko]

End to end? Sounds like our end to their end only.

Its getting more and more that way yeah.

4-0 Villa, Callum Robinson beats a few defenders on the left, cuts inside and scores from a tight angle.  Really good goal.

[Somniloquism]

Who are we beating 4-0?