Narrow Defeat At Home For Under-21s

Omari Benjamin's second goal in as many games was not enough to prevent Everton Under-21s falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Walton Hall Park.

Benjamin's headed equaliser late in the first half was just rewards for their efforts in front of goal after United took an early lead through Jack Fletcher – but Jayce Fitzgerald's deflected effort in the second half would secure the three points for United.

It was clear from the first whistle that the conditions would make life difficult for both sides, and so it proved early on at least as a swirling wind and intermittent rain prevented either side from getting the ball down on the grass for prolonged periods in the opening 10 minutes. 

As the conditions settled, so too did the play and both sides began to work the ball around neatly. Winger Joel Catesby tested Will Murdock with a low effort in the 11th minute as the visitors struggled to clear a free kick routine, but the United keeper was equal to it.

From that chance, however, United broke forward and duly took the lead barely a minute later. Gabriele Biancheri did well to get to a centred ball on the edge of the box and set it nicely for Fletcher, who took one touch towards the box before drilling an unstoppable effort from 18 yards. George Pickford did well to get a hand to it, but the effort carried too much power on its way to the roof of the net.

The Blues were undeterred and fashioned several chances to equalise before the break, one of the best coming in the 22nd minute as Gomez, involved throughout on and off the ball, won possession in the middle of the park and found Benjamin ahead of him, who in turn slotted the ball to Jacob Beaumont-Clark. The Blues winger did well to beat his marker and send an excellent low cross-come-shot across the face of goal, a delivery Braiden Graham was inches away from turning home.

Aled Thomas could only turn a header from Beaumont-Clark's corner straight at Murdock just past the half-hour mark but Paul Tait's side would not be denied for long. Benjamin won the ball with a robust challenge and skipper Will Tamen in turn did the same as the ball ran to half-way, taking possession and feeding Catesby on the left.

Catesby held the ball up 30 yards from the byline and found Josh van Schoor well on the overlap. The young left-back's cross was inch-perfect, across the box but just out of Murdock's reach and Benjamin was on hand to flick the ball home with his head.

Conditions remained inconsistent throughout the second half and in truth, chances were at a premium overall. An enforced change for Everton, with Jack Patterson forced off through injury, did not help momentum either. The visitors were able to build up a head of steam with 15 minutes remaining and when Fitzgerald turned and fired a shot off at goal in the 78th minute, it deflected away from Pickford who could not readjust and get across in time, and United were ahead again.

The introduction of Justin Clarke on the wing added some much-needed impetus to the Blues' attack but they were unable to break down a resilient United backline and ultimately fell to defeat.

Head Coach Tait told evertonfc.com: "It was cruel on the lads. I’m disappointed with the result, but we’re happy with a lot of the stuff that we’ve seen. They are top of the league with a few wins on the spin but we went toe-to-toe with them. Take the result away and I thought we did really well. Out of possession we were really good.

"We started on the back foot a little bit and they scored a worldie goal but from then I thought we were much better and created some counter-attacking opportunities.

"We scored an excellent goal, really well-worked. I was pleased to see Josh (van Schoor) overlapping because he’s a really good athlete and maybe doesn’t do it enough.

"The second half was tough and we didn’t create enough clear-cut opportunities, but then neither did they.

"We made a couple of mistakes for their goal, but that can happen with young players when they’re still learning. The shock of the other team scoring a winner from our mistakes is a good way to learn. It hit them hard and they should be determined not to let it happen again.

"Before the game, with the conditions, we were worried the game could be a bit of a farce but both teams got the ball down and played some really good stuff."

Our Under-21s are next in action on Tuesday 14 October, travelling to Valley Parade to take on Bradford City in our second Vertu Trophy group stage game.