fantram

The U18s beat Spurs 4-2 on Saturday. Jack Grealish with two goals, Jordan Graham scored a penalty, and Charlie Ward got the fourth

While the first team were getting thrashed at Soton, the U18s went down 3-2 at home to Sunderland

For the record, here are the results to date, and fixtures for Group 4 of the NextGen. 15 August Aston Villa 1 Sporting Lisbon 3 Goalscorer: Michael Drennan Team: Barrett; Bateman, Devine, Derrick Williams, Calder (Lewis 75, Watkins-Clark 90); Barton (Eminoglu 75), Ward (Crowley 82), Melvin, Graham; Grealish, Drennan. Substitutes not used: Watkins, Strain, O'Brien. 29 August PSV Eindhoven 1 Aston Villa 0 Team: Watkins; Barton, Bateman, Devine, Cameron; Graham, Ward, Melvin, Carruthers; Grealish, Drennan. Substitutes: Hill, Watkins-Clark, Eminoglu, Calder, Strain, Sellars, O'Brien. 19 September Aston Villa 2 Celtic 1 Goalscorers: Samir Carruthers, Malcolm Melvin Team: Hill; Bateman, Devine, Watkins-Clark, Derrick Williams; Grealish (Ward 71), Carruthers, Melvin, Graham; Robinson (Barton 38), Drennan. Substitutes not used: Watkins, Lewis, Calder, Wildin, Crowley. Fixtures 24 October – Celtic away 7 November – PSV Eindhoven home 28 November – Sporting Lisbon away

Great article, BOF, and I totally agree "Villa just became exciting again"

The Under 18s were held 2-2 at Bodymoor Heath by Spurs in their final game of a rather average season but, as VillaRoy says, the U18 team this season featured quite a few much younger players than usual due to several U18s playing regularly in te Reserves. Goalscorers: Graham Burke, Michael Drennan Team: Hill; Donacien, Bateman, Melvin, Watkins-Clark (Lewis 46); Devine, Barton (Nelson 57), Ward, Graham; Drennan (Serrano de la Cruz 89), Burke. Substitutes not used: Barrett, Danny Williams. OS report here.

The Under 18s beat Pompey 4-0 at the weekend at Bodymoor Heath. Goalscorers: Graham Burke, Liam Bateman, Jack Grealish, Jordan Graham Team: [No details] There is a match report on the OS. The final game of the season is on Saturday – at home against Spurs. Season stats to date Played 27 Won 11 Drawn 6 Lost 10 Goals For 62 Goals Against 50 Goal Diff. +12 Points 39 Which leaves Villa in mid table – 5th in the 10 team Premier Academy Group B – and that won’t change regardless of the result in the final match.

The Under 18s did a bit better than their first team counterparts against Chelski at the weekend. Chelsea 0 Villa 0 Report on the OS

The OS report is here. A couple of Under 16s, Jordan Lyden and Riccardo Calder, had to be drafted into the team due to illness of some players. I had forgotten that Mark Delaney coaches the Under 16s

The Under 18s went down to two late goals at Arsenal on Saturday, after a first half lead through Juan José Serrano de la Cruz Vidal. There’s a match report on the Arse website here

3 March – Aston Villa 3 Norwich City 1 Goalscorers: Jack Grealish (2, 1 pen.), Bradley Lewis

Yes, another good win Callum Robinson got both goals. Match report on the OS here

The Under 18s drew 2-2 with league leaders Reading on 25 Feb. We played the second half with ten men after Umit Eminoglu was sent off just before half time. Goalscorers: Umit Eminoglu, Bradley Lewis Team: [No details] Report on the OS

Grealish came on as an 82nd minute sub for the Reserves at Swansea yesterday, so he's moving up......

Great win, and now 3 points clear at the top. We fielded a strong team with the likes of Bannan, Gardner, etc: Barrett; Lichaj, Derrick Williams, Baker, Stevens; Carruthers, Gardner (Cameron 59), Bannan (Caira 89), Johnson; Burke (Drennan 77), Weimann. Substitutes not used: B. Watkins, Nelson-Addy. There's a match report on the OS here

28 January – Bristol City 0 Aston Villa 2 Goalscorers: Darious Darkin, Jordan Graham (pen.) Match report on the OS