Sheedy's Youth Cup Delight

Third round win the ideal Christmas send off, says coach.

Kevin Sheedy was delighted with Everton's Under-18s after they completed an impressive first half of the season with victory over Southampton in the third round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday.

George Waring and Conor Grant got the goals in each half to help the young Blues negotiate their way past the Saints on a freezing night at St Mary’s.

The scholars now take a break from competitive action until the New Year, but can look forward to a fourth round tie in the early part of 2013.

“We are very pleased because we knew it would be a difficult game against a good Southampton team,” Sheedy told evertontv following the 2-0 win.

“We had them watched and we knew some of their players had progressed into the Under-21s. It was going to be a real stern test for us and so it proved.

“We have done really well to come out on top 2-0 and our lads approached the game as we wanted them to from the very first whistle.

“Scoring a very good goal [Waring's opener] always helps in a cup tie and we also rode the storm when we had to. They had a lot of possession but defensively we had a very good shape.

“We said at half-time that we needed the second goal to give us a bit of daylight and we got that. It was a great cross by Matthew Kennedy, Gethin Jones got to the back post and Conor Grant got on the end of it.

“There were two really good, well-worked goals, so we are pleased with tonight’s performance.”

Sheedy was also impressed with the organisation and discipline in defence as the Blues blunted a Southampton frontline which had been averaging just under three goals a game.

He added: “We have conceded a lot of goals this year and sometimes we have had to score three to win games.

“That’s back-to-back clean sheets now though, which is a first for us this season. Defensively we are really pleased and overall it was a real hard-working team performance.

“We’ve got the Christmas break now and it’s always nice still to be in the FA Youth Cup. We have finished third in league so we will be playing against the better teams around the country next year.

“All in all, it has been a really good first half of the season for us.”

Look out for free highlights of Monday's game on evertontv later today.