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Thursday, November 5th at 10:30AM EST

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Two games, two wins, and plenty of goals for England Under-19 strikers Nathan Delfouneso and Nile Ranger as Brian Eastick’s boys look set to progress to July’s European Under-19 Championships.

In a squad which heavily features members of the current top 50, it’s been Aston Villa hitman Delfouneso who has hit the headlines after two of England’s three Elite round matches. Despite playing wide and out of position, he scored twice against Slovakia in the closing stages to seal a 4-1 victory at Bradford. His goals game after Newcastle youngster Ranger had scored two of his own, to add to his goal in the 2-0 win over Bosnia at Doncaster a few days earlier. The two wins leave England needing just a point against Scotland at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane on Monday to secure their path through. The Auld Enemy derby will determine which team goes through, as Scotland can take the berth with a win of their own.

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele has been captaining the side, which also features list entries Kieran Trippier, Matthew James, Dean Parrett, Jordan Spence, and Matthew Briggs. For all the latest news, see the England Under-19 page on TheFA.com.

The English season drew to a close this week, but not without some impact from the prospects, and a top quality showing from Arsenal in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup.

On Friday night Arsenal and Liverpool lined up at the Emirates Stadium for the first of two clashes in five days to decide the winners of this year’s prestigious competition. Top 50 prospects Jack Wilshere, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Henri Lansbury and Kyle Bartley from the hosts (with Rhys Murphy on the bench) lined up against a visiting team missing their three entries in the list in what was a young team of their own. They started brightly and forced a good few corners, but with injury came Arsenal’s moment. It was to one of their own, defensive midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong leaving with a thigh problem. It meant Sanchez Watt came on in an attacking role and Wilshere dropped deeper, where he found time and space in which to weave his wizardry.

Midway through the first half he picked the ball up deep and slipped a lovely pass into Lansbury’s path on the edge of the box. He simply sent it into space for Gilles Sunu to dash through and slot past Dean Bouzanis for the opener. It brought confidence to a team playing in front of 33,000 fans and with Liverpool centre-back Daniel Ayala really struggling (and lucky not to be sent off) they kept coming and made it two shortly before half time. Emmanuel-Thomas’ strange floating free kick hit the post, and when Watt picked up the rebound he was upended by schoolboy full-back Karl Clair. Wilshere was cool and composed in beating Bouzanis from 12 yards.

Alex Kacaniklic scored a lovely volley immediately after to reduce arrears at the break but the second half saw the Arsenal tide continue to flow relentlessly. Wilshere was again instrumental in the third, playing a glorious ball behind the back line to allow Watt time and space to finish nonchalently. Captain Emmanuel-Thomas headed a fourth shortly after to leave his chances of lifting the trophy at Anfield exactly 20 years to the day that their first team won the English title on the same ground very strong. The goalscorer that night to clinch the trophy on goal difference was of course, Michael Thomas.

On Sunday, the Premier League season came to a close, and with it an opportunity for some with nothing to play for to use some of their next generation. Champions Manchester United led the way, playing a complete backup team away to relegation-haunted Hull, with plenty of reserves. Rafael Da Silva featured at right back, Daniel Welbeck and Federico Macheda were paired in attack, and a very young substitutes bench included Rodrigo Possebon, Ben Amos, and for the first time Matthew James. United won with a stunning Darron Gibson goal, Rafael played well, Macheda went very close once or twice, whilst Welbeck was fairly quiet. Possebon made a late substitute appearance but was quiet.

These appearances came off the back of a week United spent in Switzerland at the annual Blue Stars youth tournament. The Red Devils finished fifth after a disappointing group stage defeat to Basel, losing 5-1. A squad featuring Amos, Possebon and James beat the local Blue Star select team, but were held by Fenerbahce in a match where Possebon found the back of the net. The Italian-cum-Brazilian scored again versus Basel before the walls came crashing down around them. Day Two saw James score in a 1-1 draw with Flamengo, leaving them in the 5th/6th place playoff against Real Madrid. The match finished goalless but United won 3-0 on penalties, Possebon scoring the second. For full coverage of the competition, United-style, and all things surrounding the younger side of the club, visit the ever-excellent United Youth.

Back in the Premier League, it was a disappointing final day for youth involvement. Arsenal, such bastions of young involvement, were unable to feature as many as they may have liked due to the FA Youth Cup. Everton, with the FA Cup in mind for next weekend, gave Jack Rodwell another 90 minutes in a confident midfield performance as they won at Fulham for the first time in 43 years. Nathan Delfouneso sat on Aston Villa’s bench and watched as an own goal from Damien Duff consigned Newcastle to relegation, and Vladimir Weiss made his debut in Man City’s tame end-of-season outing against Bolton, getting 20 minutes as a replacement for Stephen Ireland to cap another fine season for the Slovakian.

England Under-19 coach Brian Eastick named his party for this coming week’s Elite Round Qualifiers in Yorkshire against Bosnia, Scotland and Slovakia. Nathan Delfouneso, Matthew James, Dean Parrett, Jordan Spence, Jason Steele and Kieran Trippier were in the initial squad and remain so, but Daniel Welbeck has been withdrawn to travel to Rome for the Champions League Final, and Nathan Baker was withdrawn injured by Aston Villa. Baker’s departure left a space for Fulham’s Matthew Briggs to join up for the trifecta of matches, which you can keep up to date with on this blog.

Winding down the home stretch now with matches few and far between, but this weekend has seen a couple of notable prospects take part in title celebrations, even if they didn’t claim medals themselves.

Daniel Welbeck and Federico Macheda haven’t taken part in enough league fixtures to win themselves a medal, but were on the field as United lifted their eleventh Premier League crown and their eighteenth of all-time. Macheda scored two crucial goals during the run-in, including a dramatic last-gasp winner at home to Aston Villa which gave them the momentum to press on at the most tense of times. Neither of them were on the field during their goalless draw with Arsenal, however.

The duo had featured earlier in the week during the Manchester Senior Cup Final, where United retained their trophy in a 1-0 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. An early deflected effort from Zoran Tosic handed the Red Devils the trophy, and the young strikers were joined by Rodrigo Possebon, Matthew James (in an unfamiliar right-back role) and Ben Amos in their celebrations.

The end of the football league season has seen loanees return to their senior team, and on Wednesday of last week Chelsea met Manchester City behind closed doors at Stamford Bridge in a friendly which featured Miroslav Stoch, Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt, Vladimir Weiss, Kieran Tripper, Ben Mee and Robbie Mak. It was Weiss who starred in a 3-2 win for the visitors, earning an early penalty for his team to equalise a Scott Sinclair goal, before adding a second equaliser still in the first half with a magnificent mazy run and finish past Hilário. On a side note, van Aanholt then signed a three-year extension to his current deal at Stamford Bridge, keeping him there until 2012.

Returning youngsters has also benefitted Tottenham, who beat Sunderland to progress to the Premier Academy League Final, where they played fierce rivals Arsenal on Sunday. Dean Parrett and Jonathan Obika overcame a strong Black Cats effort to win 2-1 with a winner from Andros Townsend, set up by Obika, with the duo having played temporarily at Yeovil together. It wasn’t to end well for Spurs though, falling 1-0 in Sunday’s Final to a Rhys Murphy goal, a game which is covered elsewhere on this site. Arsenal’s loanee Henri Lansbury returned from Scunthorpe to feature in the match.

Back in the Premier League, and Jack Rodwell was back on Everton’s bench after 90 minutes against Tottenham last week. He got 21 minutes in relief of Marouane Fellaini, but Jose Baxter was this time unavailable to join him, having been on international duty in the European Under-17 Championships. He was suspended from Monday’s tournament elimination against Turkey, a game which cost England a place in the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria later this year. Jack Wilshere was also missing injured, whilst John Bostock once more captained the team in a losing effort.

Finally, and it all counts, Middlesbrough’s Reserves gave the Teesiders some small joy in a season where not much has gone their way by beating Stokesley in the North Riding Senior Cup Final. Captain Richie Smallwood lifted the trophy after a good outing in defence, and goalkeeper Jason Steele kept his clean sheet in beating away a last minute penalty kick.

Eight of the top 50 prospects have been named in Brian Eastick’s England Under-19 squad for the upcoming European Championship Qualifying Elite Stage. Amongst the octet, for the first time, is Manchester United’s Matthew James.

James has been in fine form for United’s Reserves this season, and has recently added a few long-range spectacular goals to his repertoire. Having represented the Three Lions at all previous age groups, he makes his first step up for the Under-19 clashes with Bosnia, Slovakia and Scotland at the end of the month. Joining him is club team-mate Daniel Welbeck, Aston Villa duo Nathan Baker and Nathan Delfouneso, Manchester City’s Kieran Trippier, West Ham’s Jordan Spence, Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele, and a fellow debutant in Tottenham academy captain Dean Parrett.

More information can be found at TheFA.com.

After another exhaustive midweek and weekend programme of football, the season has come to an end for many of the prospects, but for a select few there’s still everything to play for.

Last midweek saw a break for all football league teams ahead of the final weekend of the league season, but it was the last round of Premier League Reserve fixtures. Aston Villa sealed the South title with a 2-0 win over West Brom, where Nathan Delfouneso was impressive and created the opening goal, whilst Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker were rock solid at the back. The win meant Tottenham couldn’t steal the crown at the last minute, but John Bostock and teammates crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Chelsea where Jeffrey Bruma, Patrick van Aanholt, and Jacob Mellis were impressive. Mellis was the subject of a crude challenge from Jake Livermore which earned the Tottenham defender a red card. Miroslav Stoch missed the game as part of the first team subs bench which earned a 0-0 draw away to Barcelona in the Champions League Semi Finals.

In the Northern section, Sunderland took the title last week, but couldn’t finish the season with a victory, falling 2-0 to Manchester United. Ben Amos kept a clean sheet, and Matthew James scored an injury-time screamer for the second week running. On the downside, Fábio Da Silva and Rodrigo Possebon left the game injured, but neither appeared to be serious. Rivals Manchester City won 3-1 against Everton with Vladimir Weiss and Ben Mee amongst an experienced selection which had too much for Everton’s youthful outfit, for whom Jose Baxter scored a heavily deflected effort to open the scoring early in the second half.

A season to forget for outgoing Champions Liverpool was ended on a surprisingly high note with a 5-1 win over Newcastle just two days after their Liverpool Senior Cup win over Waterloo Dock. Mikel San Jose and Dani Pacheco both featured in the first game before starring in the second, with San Jose scoring against the Magpies, followed by a brace from compatriot Pacheco late on, having entered the game as a 65th minute substitute. Gerardo Bruna was chief creator, notching two assists and was only denied a goal himself by the woodwork from a sublime free-kick. Elsewhere, Richie Smallwood and Jason Steele ended up on the wrong side of a 3-2 reverse to Hull City for Middlesbrough.

Saturday saw the last round of academy fixtures, where Tottenham prepared for the national semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over West Ham United, captained by Dean Parrett. Man City also prepared for the same stage with a 3-1 dismissal of Leeds, where Robbie Mak’s experience in a young side showed, scoring twice, including a quite sublime solo goal in the second half. Jacob Mellis dropped back down to Under-18 level for Chelsea’s last game of the season, playing a second half in the Blues’ 2-0 loss to Watford, and Kyle Bartley did the same for Arsenal against Cardiff, although he wasn’t pressed into playing.

In Premier League action, Federico Macheda earned his first league start for Man Utd away to Middlesbrough, in a much rotated team between Champions League Semi Finals. He had a frustrating 55 minutes before being replaced by Carlos Tevez, and was booked for persistent fouling on a day where he didn’t get into the game at all. Rafael Da Silva got a twelve-minute run-out towards the end of the game. At Sunderland the day after, Everton’s Jack Rodwell got 17 minutes in a comfortable win for the Toffees which puts the Black Cats into serious relegation bother, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was part of a very young Arsenal subs bench away to Portsmouth, a game they won 3-0.

The majority of the weekend’s attention, however, was on the last weekend of the Football League season. The prospects playing in the Championship had little to play for, with Jake Thomson once more missing for already-relegated Southampton as they crashed 3-1 at Nottingham Forest. Derby’s Barry Bannan was on the wrong side of the same scoreline at Watford in a defeat which saw the Rams finish below the Hornets. Pre-match comments from Derby manager Nigel Clough indicated their delight with Bannan’s performances, and the hope that he could return on loan next season.

League One saw Jordan Spence’s fantastic season on loan at Leyton Orient come to an end with a 1-1 draw at home to Huddersfield, and he will hope to return to West Ham for the end of their season and perhaps make a late appearance for Gianfranco Zola’s team ahead of next season. Yeovil loanee Jonathan Obika now returns to Tottenham having scored the goals to keep the Glovers up, but he didn’t finish with a bang, losing 2-0 at home to Colchester. Henri Lansbury was missing injured for Scunthorpe as Cliff Byrne scored a desperate last minute equaliser to seal the Iron’s place in the Playoffs, where Lansbury will hope to recover from a bad foot injury in time to play a part in a potential second visit to Wembley this season.

To finish on miscellaneous news, Sergio Tejera’s season with Mallorca B finished last weekend against Real Oviedo in the Tercera division. Tejera had been scoring freely in recent weeks, with a brace against CD Manacor, before being sent off in a wild game where two of his teammates were also dismissed. Finally, Jack Wilshere, Jose Baxter and John Bostock will kick off their UEFA European Under-17 Championships Finals on Wednesday, a tournament covered in depth on this blog. Keep a look out for a preview on Tuesday.

This Sunday sees an extended round-up, after missing the midweek football due to a busy time for myself. As the season nears an end, the stakes are still very high for a number of players.

Despite the plethora of action since the last update, Daniel Welbeck has been out of action since his FA Cup Semi Final appearance at Wembley. After playing the full 120 minutes against Everton, he was rested from duty for the following four games for United, so expect him back in the near future. Second on the list, Gael Kakuta, is recovering well from his serious injury, whilst Chelsea colleague Michael Woods does the same. Similar cannot be said of Rhys Taylor though, who continues to be sidelined with the effects of a concussion suffered in a February friendly at St. Patrick’s Athletic in Ireland.

Sticking with Chelsea, and Miroslav Stoch completed his three-match domestic suspension to return to the first team bench for the 1-0 Premier League win at West Ham, although he remained unused. In the midweek Reserve fixture, Jeffrey Bruma played in an unfamiliar central midfield position and did well against West Brom, and Dutch compatriot Patrick van Aanholt impressed in an equally unfamiliar left-wing role, capping a fine outing with a lovely free kick in a 2-2 draw. Jacob Mellis was the highlight of the night though, providing a goal for Juliano Belletti and putting in a performance which caused Guus Hiddink to name him as a substitute for the Everton game on Wednesday night. He didn’t play, but Jack Rodwell did, albeit for one minute late in the goalless draw, before returning to the bench for the visit of Man City on Saturday. He was joined by Jose Baxter.

Neither got onto the pitch, but elsewhere, Man Utd’s Rafael Da Silva did. He played as a second-half substitute on Wednesday night in a routine 2-0 win over Portsmouth and earned a weekend start against Tottenham. He was subbed after 70 mins as United turned around a 2-0 deficit at half time into a 5-2 win, but was left embarrassed for Tottenham’s second goal by Luka Modric. His twin brother Fábio had a lower key week, missing a late penalty against Newcastle Reserves to cost the Reds a win, instead having to settle for a 1-1 draw. The third Brazilian in the club’s youth ranks, Rodrigo Possebon, is now Italian, representing their Under-20s in midweek, unfortunately losing 5-0 to Germany.

The other United players in the list – and there are a lot of them – had a mixed week. Ben Amos kept goal twice, keeping a clean sheet in the 4-0 victory over Preston to advance to the Lancashire Senior Cup Final, and then in a 4-2 academy win on Saturday against Newcastle. Matthew James played midfield in the former game, and scored a quite stupendous 35-yard stunner to cap the win off. At the other end of the scale, Davide Petrucci was forced to watch again as he continues to recover from injury, whilst Federico Macheda has also been resting, and was an unused substitute against Tottenham. Sam Hewson, on loan at Hereford, is another on the longer-term injury table.

Arsenal’s young charges – Jack Wilshere, Kyle Bartley, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas – were given the weekend off after successfully qualifying for the FA Youth Cup Final in midweek. Emmanuel-Thomas was named as a substitute for the Under-18 game against Tottenham but didn’t feature, and neither did the injured (again) Rhys Murphy. Dean Parrett and John Bostock did feature in white though, Parrett captaining the team and Bostock scoring an early goal in a 2-2 draw.

The Gunners’ defeated midweek opponents, Man City, were away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, where we await news of how Robbie Mak, Alex Nimely-Tchuimeni and Kieran Trippier got on. Ben Mee and Vladimir Weiss featured earlier in the same week for the club’s reserves in a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, where Richie Smallwood was a second half substitute. Smallwood and ‘Boro goalkeeper Jason Steele played three days later in the North Riding Senior Cup against Marske United. Steele kept a clean sheet and Smallwood captained the team, picking up a yellow card as they try to seal some silverware in a local competition.

Aston Villa trio Nathan Delfouneso, Nathan Baker and Ciaran Clark all featured in a 2-1 reserve victory over Fulham, for whom Keanu Marsh-Brown put in an impressive attacking performance. Baker played at left-back and got forward to good measure, going close twice. Delfouneso and Clark both then made the first team bench for Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Bolton, where the striker got fifteen minutes late on and looked decent.

In the Championship, their club team-mate Barry Bannan featured in both of Derby’s matches, playing 89 minutes midweek in a defeat to promotion hopefuls Reading, and then one minute fewer in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Charlton. In the Reading match, he was replaced by Nacer Barazite, who has returned from a serious ankle injury ahead of time. Jordon Mutch of Birmingham watched as his senior colleagues failed to clinch promotion to the Premier League by losing to Preston.

League two saw Jordan Spence continue at the heart of Leyton Orient’s defence as they lost a close game 2-1 to Millwall, who are chasing a playoff place. Henri Lansbury missed Scunthorpe’s midweek 3-3 thriller at Northampton with an ankle injury but returned on Friday night to play in the second half away to Leicester, turning in a useful performance to earn a 2-2 draw and continue their chase for a playoff spot themselves. Yeovil aren’t safe yet at the other end, but that’s not for the lack of Jonathan Obika goals. The Spurs loanee scored again for the Glovers, his fourth of a successful loan spell, in a 1-1 draw with Tranmere, after making way midweek in a 2-2 draw with Hereford in which goalkeeper Chris Weale scored a dramatic equaliser deep into stoppage time.

Portsmouth’s reserves, featuring Gael N’Lundulu (for 70 minutes) and Gauthier Mahoto but not Paris-Cowan Hall, beat West Ham’s 1-0 with impressive outings from both Frenchmen. And, finally, on this whistlestop tour of the country, Mikel San Jose was Man of the Match and Gerardo Bruna scored a late winner for a Liverpool team without Dani Pacheco in a 2-1 reserve win over Hull City to lift the defending Champions off the bottom of the table.

Manchester City are certainly loving their first foray into the Dallas Cup. Three games, three wins, a Semi Final berth, and starring roles for three of their entries into the current prospect list. Thursday say Robbie Mak and Alex Nimely continue their fine form with two goals apiece against Toronto FC. Elsewhere a number of other prospects have been in action too, and we cover them here.

Having sent AC Milan packing before battling back to beat Tigres, City went in with a good chance of Semi Final place, but left nobody in any doubt about their credentials with a stunning performance at Pizza Hut Park. Kieran Trippier was the best player on the park but the plaudits went to their deadly strike duo. Mak opened the scoring with a fine solo goal and laid the second on a plate for Liberian partner Nimely. He added a lovely curling third and Nimely wrapped the win up late, leaving a potential tie against Sao Paulo or Eintracht Frankfurt. The club’s official site has more on the match and the competition in general for your reading interest.

As ever, it’s been a busy week of European, Reserve and Football League action, and prospects have featured across the board. After Sunday’s heroics, Federico Macheda was named as a substitute again for Manchester United, but was left on the bench as the Red Devils laboured to a 2-2 draw against FC Porto, leaving their chances of progression to the Semi Finals less than favourable. Team-mate Daniel Welbeck was not part of the matchday squad, making way for the returning Wayne Rooney.

In the Championship, Aston Villa’s Barry Bannan started for Derby but was on the wrong side of a 4-1 hiding from promotion hopefuls Cardiff City. The Scotland Under-21 international was substituted after 64 minutes. After starting on Saturday, Jake Thomson was nowhere to be seen for Southampton in their 2-2 draw at Watford. League One once again saw Manchester United’s Sam Hewson missing injured for Hereford, but Jordan Spence was part of the Leyton Orient team which recovered from two goals down to draw at home to Leeds United.

In Reserve football, Chelsea’s Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt put in good performances and Jacob Mellis was a late sub as the Blues lost 2-1 to a late Michael Uwezu goal for Fulham. Jose Baxter played 90 minutes up front for Everton’s Reserves as a 0-0 draw at Sunderland denied the Wearsiders the Reserve League North title, whilst Jason Steele watched from the bench as Richie Smallwood and Middlesbrough’s reserves were denied a win by a late Bolton equaliser.

Finally, Gauthier Mahoto played 77 minutes and Gael N’Lundulu the entire game for Portsmouth’s second eleven in a 3-0 win over West Brom. Tom Kilbey scored a hat-trick in a game where set-piece maestro Mahoto provided one from a corner and hit the crossbar with a free kick before being withdrawn with the game in the bag.

Monday and Tuesday saw action at Reserve and International level, where Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark captained England’s Under-20s on their way to a 2-0 victory over Italy at Loftus Road.

Clark opened the scoring midway through the first half with a crashing header from a cross by his club team-mate Marc Albrighton. A Daniel Sturridge goal in the second half secured the win in which Ben Amos kept a second half clean sheet. The first Under-20 fixture for the Three Lions since 2005 also saw Ben Mee get a fifteen-minute cameo, replacing Chelsea’s on-loan left-back Ryan Bertrand.

One age-group up, the Under-21s fell to a 2-0 defeat to a good French team at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground. Jack Rodwell and Daniel Welbeck both made substitute appearances – Rodwell making his debut – in what was a disappointing night for Stuart Pearce’s boys. The new look theFA.com covered a feature on Rodwell before the game.

There was better luck for John Bostock and Jose Baxter, who as part of the Under-17s secured a third straight win to soar into May’s Finals in Germany. Bostock played the entire 2-0 win over Hungary, whilst Baxter was rested, with qualification all but sewn up.

In league football, Jonathan Obika continued a fairytale season by scoring his second goal for Yeovil in as many games to give his new loan team another vital 1-0 victory. The Tottenham-owned striker scored with eleven minutes remaining to edge past Northampton to take the Glovers three points ahead of the Cobblers in the relegation zone.

Monday night sees the vast majority of Reserve football in England, and Federico Macheda led the way with a sublime hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Newcastle. Elsewhere, Aston Villa failed to seize the chance to secure the FA Premier Reserve League South title for the second season in a row with their second defeat of the season, falling 2-1 to Tottenham. Nathan Delfouneso had a first half goal disallowed before his team took the leader, but Nathan Baker conceded a penalty to allow the visitors to level, and a second penalty won it for Spurs.

Paris Cowan-Hall returned to form with the only goal in Portsmouth’s 1-0 win over West Brom. Alongside fellow list members Gauthier Mahoto (a substitute) and Gael N’Lundulu, he impressed and scored a close-range tap-in just before half time. All three played well, with Mahoto especially in fine creative form.

Richie Smallwood captained Middlesbrough’s reserves to a 3-0 victory over Bolton to take them off the bottom of the table. The third-year provided a free-kick assist to Seb Hines for the second goal, and Jason Steele kept a clean sheet at the other end.

A number of the top 50 represented their countries at assorted levels over the past seven days, and we’ll take a look at how they all got on. It’s dominated by England’s players.

Despite being named in the squad for the second time, Daniel Welbeck wasn’t selected by Stuart Pearce for the England Under-21s on Friday night in Norway. He’ll hope to be involved against France in the upcoming fixture this week. Jack Rodwell, who received his first call-up, was also forced to watch from the sidelines and will aim to join Welbeck in the squad for the next game.

Rodwell did captain the England Under-19s earlier in the week, but Brian Eastick’s team were frustrated in their final warm-up game before the European Under-19 Championship Qualifiers resume for the Elite round. They were held 0-0 by the Czech Republic at Walsall’s Banks’s Stadium in a match which also featured Jason Steele (who kept a clean sheet), Nathan Delfouneso, and Jonathan Obika. Jordan Spence was an unused substitute, whilst Henri Lansbury would have captained the team but was ruled out through injury.

Down at Under-17 level the Three Lions are well on their way to qualifying for their Under-17 Finals in May, hosted in Germany. John Bostock and Jose Baxter have been involved as John Peacock’s team continue to impress.

Elsewhere, flying Slovakian wingers Miroslav Stoch and Vladimir Weiss are in the team’s Under-20 squad for the Mirop Cup game against Italy, although Stoch won’t feature having been called up to the senior squad. Finally, Barry Bannan made his Scotland Under-21 debut in a 1-0 win over Albania.

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Manchester United Reserves	1-0	Middlesbrough Reserves

Fábio 90 (pen)

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It would be fair to say that this one won’t live long in the memory. After 91 minutes, every hardy soul left in the ground was surely wondering whether spending the evening at a freezing Moss Lane was really worth their while and very much looking forward to getting home. Thankfully, those who stuck it out to the end were rewarded and made their way home in much better spirits, United winning the game in the third minute of stoppage time as the last kick of the game saw Fábio da Silva coolly slot home a penalty kick won by Cameron Stewart. A relatively even game – which may have been lacking in excitement but certainly wasn’t in effort – saw Boro spurn the better chances in the first half before the home side had the best of a second 45 which looked to be petering out until that late, late winner.

Ole Solskjaer’s side featured a number of changes from the eleven that were narrowly beaten on Wearside three days ago. Kiko Macheda’s suspension for the red card he picked up against Wigan kicked in yesterday and thus deprived the side of a natural striking option, Robbie Brady instead leading the line with Lee Martin continuing in a free role behind the lone frontman. Elsewhere, Magnus Eikrem and Oliver Gill came in for Danny Drinkwater and James Chester, while the late withdrawal of Tomasz Kuszczak gave Ron-Robert Zieler the chance to replace Conor Devlin in goal, his first appearance since returning from his loan spell at Northampton. The notable inclusion on the subs bench was Danny Galbraith, involved for the first time since the BlueStars tournament last May after a nightmare season of injuries.

If the first half was a boxing match, Boro would probably have won it narrowly on points. While United probably shaded the possession, it was the visitors who posed the greater goal threat. Zieler’s palms were warmed first by the much-hyped Nathan Porritt, before James Gray’s strike skimmed the outside of the right-hand post with the Reds’ German stopper helpless. Soon after, Jonathan Franks – hugely impressive when these two sides clashed at academy level last season – went even closer, his instinctively low strike being brilliantly kept out by Zieler, who got down superbly to tip the ball onto his near post and wide.

Fábio - cool as you like from 12 yards

In contrast, United never really put England U19 keeper Jason Steele under any real pressure down the other end, moves more often than not breaking down thanks to a poor final ball or some iffy decision-making. Matt James and Rodrigo Possebon battled gamely in the centre of the park but the lack of a genuine striking presence upfront and the tendency of the Reds’ wide players to cut inside limited their options and the killer ball was never really on. Lee Martin looked the most likely to make something happen, continuing his impressive form and commitment since returning from Forest, while Zoran Tošić probably had the home side’s most promising moment, a mazy run into the area briefly looking like it would lead to a great opportunity to shoot but a moment’s hesitation ultimately snuffing the move out.

Distinctly mundane fayre it has to be said, and the second half was little different in that regard. Where it did differ though was in and around the Middlesbrough penalty area, where the Reds looked much more of a threat. Early second half corners saw Brady head wide and then Gill loop another header against the bar, while Martin twice got in behind the defence but chose to look for non-existent support rather than really taking responsibility and going for goal himself. James and Possebon started to impose themselves in midfield while Fábio started to become a real threat on the left in tandem with Tošić, who was having perhaps his most impressive reserve outing so far.

No goal was forthcoming though and Ole looked to his bench, first bringing on Ollie Norwood for the ineffective Magnus Eikrem and then, after a further twenty minutes of goalless frustration, replacing the exhausted Brady with Cameron Stewart. United were the only side pushing for the win at this stage but Boro weren’t unduly stretched at the back, and as slightly desperate long-range efforts started to become the order of the day, 0-0 was looking heavy favourite. This United side don’t know when to quit though, and deep into stoppage time Boro’s backline was breached again, this time by Stewart. James’ excellent through-ball put the Mancunian winger clean through on goal and, just as he looked set to pull the trigger, Boro’s John Johnson scythed the 18 year-old down with a desperate lunge which seemed to get a bit of the ball but plenty of the man.

It’s not hard to see why the referee pointed to the spot, especially after seeing the incident from his angle, and having made that decision a red card for Johnson was inevitable and duly shown. The responsibility of handing the Reds the unlikeliest of wins from 12 yards out was firmly grasped by Fábio, who – fittingly given his man-of-the-match display – sent Steele the wrong way with every bit as cool a penalty as the one he netted against Bolton three weeks ago.

Harsh on Middlesbrough perhaps, although every credit to the Reds for keeping going to the last when their opponents were only too happy to settle for a point. The result leaves the Teessiders marooned at the foot of the Premier Reserve League North table, while three points for United moves Solskjaer’s men into striking distance of second-placed Manchester City. It’s City up next for the Reds this coming Monday as well, albeit in the Manchester Senior Cup – Liverpool away next Thursday is the next league clash.

 
UNITED
1. Ron-Robert Zieler
2. Ritchie de Laet
3. Fábio da Silva
4. Corry Evans (c)
5. Oliver Gill
6. Matt James
7. Magnus Eikrem (14. Oliver Norwood 56)
8. Rodrigo Possebon
9. Robbie Brady (15. Cameron Stewart 76)
10. Lee Martin
11. Zoran Tošić

 
Boro: Steele, Corker, Johnson, Robinson, Bennett, Gal-Andrezly (Martin 76), Gray, Smallwood (c), Cronesberry, Franks, Porritt (Otte 86).
Unused subs: Knight, Bassi, Oliver.

Ref: Mark Haywood.

Ben Amos, Daniel Drinkwater and Danny Welbeck have retained their places in the England U19 squad for the forthcoming international friendly against European champions Germany.

All three were part of the squad that recently won through to the elite qualifying round for next year’s U19 European Championships, and coach Brian Eastick has included the United trio again as his side prepare to take on the Germans in a friendly at Colchester United’s Weston Homes Community Stadium on Tuesday November 18.

Drinkwater’s impressive performances in last month’s first qualifying round in Northern Ireland (where England beat the hosts and Albania to qualify) should put him in prime position to earn another start for his country, while the absence of regular keeper Jason Steele should give Amos a great chance to make his first appearance at this level.

Welbeck meanwhile might be a slight doubt for the game, having only just re-appeared in a United shirt in yesterday’s reserve friendly with Celtic after picking up a groin injury in that first qualifying round a month ago.

A weird animation called “How To Play The Violin,” by Jason Steele, A.K.A. the guy who made “Charlie the Unicorn.”

… I only posted it kus it ha the word “violin,” in it XD

As we reported a fortnight ago, Danny Welbeck and Ben Amos both recieved call-ups to the provisional England squad for the upcoming U19 European Championships, and faced a nervous wait until the announcement of the final 18-man party. That announcement has been made today, and there’s good news and bad news.

England’s first game in the tournament is a clash with the host on Monday week, a match that will be shown live on Eurosport for those wishing to follow Danny Welbeck’s progress. We’ll have full coverage of Danny’s participation in the tournament here on United Youth.

England Under-19 head coach Brian Eastick has named a provisional 23 man squad ahead of the upcoming U19 European Championships, and United duo Ben Amos and Danny Welbeck are in. The squad will be trimmed down to a final travelling party of 18 for the tournament (being held in the Czech Republic), and while Welbeck should be a shoo-in to make the final cut, Amos faces a nervous wait. Middlesbrough keeper Jason Steele looks odds-on to be first choice, which leaves the United stopper competing with his Spurs counterpart David Button for the back-up role. Button has the advantage of having featured for the U19’s previously and having played at senior level (albeit making only one solitary appearance for Grays Athletic), but Amos’ strong end of season form and impressive display for the England U18’s against Austria may stand him in good stead.

The final squad of 18 will be announced nearer to the tournament’s start date of July 14th. You can view the full provisional squad here.

Jason Steele writes the column “Boy on Boystown” weekly for the Redeye, taking the space to tackle very pertinent issues in and about Chicago’s very own gayborhood. Such diversity! This week the always-insightful Boy of Steele talks about how his gaydar was on the fritz. He had a “misinterpregaytion”! He was forced to deal with his own “shock” when a friend who lives in Wrigleyville and is a “big sports nut” talked about dumping his ex-boyfriend. No! Gays can like sports????!?

But while we’re busy not dealing in stereotypes, Jason leaves us with this gem about a fellow at Whole Foods asking about kumquats: “My gaydar determined he wasn’t gay; he just thought I worked there. But even if he isn’t gay, his produce sure is.”

So, tiny oranges=gay. We’ll add that to our list of Things That Are Gay, right after saying goodnight to your roommate. Thanks, Jason!