4 min read
21st Jan 2025
Everton 3 (Morgan 26, 33, Loney 90) 1 Wolves (Dayman 90+3)
Wolves under-18s suffered defeat away to Everton under-18s on Tuesday evening at Goodison Park as their FA Youth Cup campaign came to an end.
A first half brace from George Morgan helped Everton on their way to overcoming Wolves, despite a late effort to mount a comeback from the away side.
The tie proceeded with a battling edge, highlighted by two yellow cards issued to the home side in the opening 10 minutes for fouls on Sebastian Lochhead as Everton looked to stamp their authority early in the game.
Wolves enjoyed good spells of possession throughout the half, as Wes Okoduwa operated as an advanced full-back with Caden Voice shifted to centre-back, allowing Conor McLeod to impact the game from central areas. The away side looked promising, but it was the home side who snatched the lead.
Harrison Armstrong won possession in the Wolves half, despite looking to foul Luke Rawlings in the process, and slid George Morgan through into the penalty box where he rifled a finish past Lewys Benjamin. The home side looked to double their lead immediately as Armstrong tried his luck from distance soon after the restart, but Benjamin saved comfortably.
Everton’s turn to apply pressure was rewarded, unlike Wolves’, as the Toffees doubled their lead just seven minutes later. Wolves committed bodies forward but were dealt a counter-attacking blow led by Justin Clarke, who charged towards Wolves’ box before slipping in Morgan, who finished low into the bottom corner to score his second of the game.
The best chance of the half for Wolves fell to Emilio Ballard-Matthews on the stroke of half-time. McLeod’s delivery from a deep free-kick was headed into Douglass Lukjanciks’ gloves, but the Everton ‘keeper failed to keep control of the ball, and it fell to Ballard-Matthews who failed to hit the target from close range.
Half-time | Everton 2-0 Wolves
Benjamin was to thank for Wolves not going three goals down early in the second half, courtesy of a superb save. Everton launched another dangerous counter-attack and found themselves in a 4v2 situation approaching the penalty area, where Braiden Graham opted for a shot opposed to a pass, however Benjamin was more than equal to the attempt and parried away to safety.
Wolves failed to force a breakthrough during the mid-section of the second half, resulting in Walker turning to his bench for a boost as Reiss Bowen was introduced.
The home side gradually began to sit deeper as the final 20 minutes approached, with Minkyu Ji and McLeod linking up well down the left-hand side. Their link-up play created an opening Rawlings inside the box, however his tame effort was saved comfortably.
McLeod was central to Wolves’ attempted comeback once again, this time with an effort from distance after cutting onto his favoured left foot and firing towards goal, but Lukjanciks stood strong.
Everton took advantage of the scarce number of bodies left back by Wolves after the majority of play took place in the Everton half during the final stages. Armstrong won possession inside the Wolves half before laying it off to substitute Ceiran Loney, who coolly finished past Benjamin for three.
The away side fought back in the latter stages, scoring a consolation goal and creating two good chances. First, Voice kept a cross alive at the back post before finding McLeod, but his effort was cleared off the line by Aled Thomas. Wolves eventually found their deserved goal after Bowen helped on a pass to Myles Dayman on the right side of the penalty area, where he buried an effort expertly into the far corner of the net.
The final passage of play saw Dayman come close to a second after connecting with McLeod’s cross, but his header struck the post and the ball somehow stayed out.
Full-time | Everton 3-1 Wolves
LINEUPS
Everton | Lukjanciks, Gardner, Van Schoor, Davis, Thomas, Foster (Akarakiri 85), Catesby (Loney 42), Armstrong, Morgan (Olayiwola 85), Graham, Clarke (Poland 78).
Subs not used | Patrick, Stewart, Robert.
Wolves | Benjamin, Okoduwa, Voice, Olagunju (Wilcox 82), Lochhead, Bradbury, Ji, Rawlings, Ballard-Matthews (Bowen 61), McLeod, Dayman.
Subs not used | White, Hardy, Osifo, Elendu, Marwa.
Report by Callum Greybanks
