Another Thrilling win for academy

Barnsley 1 (Potter) Manchester City 0

With Man City defeating Newcastle away in the semi-final of the Youth Cup on Wednesday, this was always going to be a tough one. As a result, Barnsley picked a very strong mid-field of Jarman, Heslop, Loukes and Beevor. Unfortunately, Rhys Meynell was injured so Stephan Holt (normally a midfielder)drew the short straw to play in central defence alongside Luke Potter. He was soon in the wars and carried a bandage around his head for the majority of the game. Young keeper Waggett was the Barnsley hero in the first half, making 2 top quality saves. At the other end the City keeper saved well from Jarman and there were also a couple of other close things.
The second half was tighter, but Waggett again saved on a couple of occasions when city looked certain to go in front. The young Barnsley forward Wyatt missed an open goal when good work by Jarman put him in. With time running out, an injured Wright was brought off and Jarman was moved up front. Only 5 minutes remained when Barnsley won a corner. Potter went forward, but the ball was cleared. Barnsley won it back in mid-field and a 1-2 on the edge of the box left Potter with a shooting chance from the edge of the box. The young lad buried it in the bottom corner and was promptly submerged beneath his teammates and coaching staff. The last 5 minutes passed without too much incident. Next game Manchester United away.

When the acadamy was struggling earlier in the season, I urged everyone to be patient. I said that the young players would improve. I was right. Luke Potter, who struggled at left back now looks a real prospect at centre-half. He dominated a very useful City centre forward today and found time to hit several stunning 50 yard left foot passes, and of course score the winner. Left back, Danny Smith, who is only 15 had another tremendous game. His first touch is so good that he seems to have more time than anyone else. I was pleased to see Jarman in midfield because I do not think that he finishes well enough to be a centre forward and he had a good game. He was out shone in that position by Jonathan Loukes and especially Simon Heslop, who had his best game for the club. They worked so hard and competed for everything. They were the real reason we won in a very close game