Battling VILLA lose Youth Cup final to the better side but can be very proud of them
A battling very young Villa side went down to a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge to lose the FA Youth Cup semi final 3-2 on aggregate.
Kofi Poyser opened the scoring for Villa in the first half with a neat header but frankly the older Chelsea side were classier and two well taken goals put paid to Villa
However Villa fans, Tony McAndrew and Sid can be very proud of the young lads from a group of youngsters obviously missing the outstanding player in Gary Gardner for most of this cup run.
Less said about the Chelsea TV commentators the better !
FULL TIME – FA YOUTH CUP FINAL – Chelsea 2 – VILLA 1 – POYSER
This is the second leg after Villa drew 1-1 in the first leg
Reminder – away goals do not count
Villa team
Siegrist, Berry, Deeney, Devine, Williams, Blythe, Carruthers, Nelson-Addy, Poyser, Simmonds, Roberts. Substitutes: Johnson, Barrett, Halfhuid, Darkin, Dyer.
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98 mins – FULL TIME – Villa lose in a final again, heartbreaking for the kids, we matched a supposed much better side all the way
96 mins – bad injury to Chelsea player with more extra time
90 mins – 4 mins extra time
88 mins – Halfuid on for Blythe and Chelsea hit the bar twice, the first another top quality save
84 mins – But Siegrist could do nothing about that shot
82 mins – world class keeping from Siegrist
77 mins – things settled down but Roberts booked for a clear foul
71 mins – Darkin on for the injured Williams and gone straight up front
66 mins – Chelsea now deserve to be level but looked offside from a cross but how I hate these commentators and the scum Terry and Cole in the crowd
63 mins – Chelsea shoot over
60 mins – Finally some pressure from us and two corners, but how much of these Chelsea commentators I can stand I can not say. There is bias and then there is this crap, Jack Woodward, mate after listening to these clowns you are Martin Tyler in comparsion !
52 mins – Another clear Chelsea chance missed from a corner, relentless pressure
50 mins – All Chelsea, lucky to still be in front
SECOND HALF KICK OFF – no changes
HALF TIME and despite Chelsea pressure Villa lead 1-0 thanks to a Poyser goal which was a well taken header
37 mins – Chelsea with most of the play to be fair
31 mins Poyser just scored with an header to put Villa 1-0 up
Pictures of the Semi Final, sunny day but disappointment at the end
James Spare, sat next to me at the game and took this excellent photo’s. If you have some decent photo’s of yesterday then please e-mail me and I will put them up.
Semi-Final build up – Bright Hopes and Sunny Forecast
So have you seen the weather forecast for Saturday then in the North of London ?
Well according to the met office we are expecting 19 degrees and sunny weather, perfect conditions for football, a few drinks and photos
According to all the pundits we are expected to be thrashed. OK you can understand why they may say this, it is not as if our last match would give few people any hope we could actually win. But actually for myself I prefer that, let everyone write us off, let John Terry think we will fade again after 60 minutes and lest show them all how wrong they are and how determined a side we are.
I know and I have seen us fight and battle in every game (well except one we shall not mention !), I expect a Villa team to go out on Saturday and pay back for 7-1 to show the doubters just how wrong they were to write us off (that includes our own fans).
It is going to be a stunning day for weather and I think coming back up the M40/M1 Villa fans will be reflecting on a stunning days football for Villa, of course !
Semi Final Build up – Time for Payback – The FA Cup MATTERS
No Villa fan needs reminding of the humiliation that Chelsea dished out to us two weeks ago but it should not be forgotten that for the first half we more than competed that we do know.
So all that matters now is to think of the prize at the end of Saturday, concentrate on what really matters which is not the opponents but the game. I can understand why Petrov and Young reacted as they did against John Terry’s comments but the place to show this is on the pitch Saturday because Chelsea expect nothing less than a comfortable win and that will be their downfall.
For them and it seems the rest of the football world the FA cup is now an irrelevance the booby prize if top 4 is not possible or even a Champions League win. However for Villa fans (well the ones who are going and I suspect the vast majority of us) the FA cup does really MATTER.
It has been built into our own fragile psyche’s that we have not won it since 57, we are aware that we have appeared in only three semi finals since then, it hurts that of all teams this is a disgraceful record. MON has said he wants players at Bodymoor to be reminded of the European Cup win, so I hope he has reminded the players of Johnny Dixon, got Peter McParland in for a talk.
Show the players how this is really our pot of gold and we deserve to win it again and leave NOTHING on that pitch Saturday.
Oh and hope for a referee who does his job properly !
Semi Final Build Up – Why have we not sold out by now ?
The Official site has now announced that from tomorrow Season Ticket holders can now purchases 2 tickets extra per season ticket for the semi final. Along with with this there is an effective general sale of tickets to anyone with a booking history this season.
The rumour around is up to 5,000 Season ticket holders have not brought a semi ticket and over 5000 remain for sale.
I have got to say I do not understand that at all. Yes we were only down in London 4/5 weeks ago and yes it is an expensive business but surely the FA cup is our destiny, after 53 years of hurt we will win the bloody thing some time and why not now.
Yes so we lost to Chelsea 7-1 the other week but that has no baring on a one off cup game, why get so disheartened about it ? Surely you want to say you was there at Wembley when we got revenge for 2000 ?
Surely that is worth a £50-80 payout ?
However with the details announced today I can not imagine us not selling out now and maybe with fans being there for their only time then the atmosphere could be better ?
UPDATE – 15:00 – 07/04 – Rung up ticket office today to renew season ticket and asked about availability and was told 3500 left
Webb the referee for Semi Final
It as been confirmed that England’s ‘top ref’ Howard Webb is the referee for the semi final on Saturday.
He has been dodgy recently but can he really be worse than Dowd was ?
Clear cheating and poor ref costing Villa – HT report
What is with Villa and refs recently ?
Without exception we have been given nothing from the refs and today is no exception.
Not only does Milner get a malicious and vicious elbow in the throat from Mikel we get a penalty given against us, clear dive from the already booked Zirkhov. The referree Peter Walton fell for this hook, line and sinker to send us one down at halt time.
However this was a very positive performance from Villa, started the game very well, but went behind to a bit of a defensive disaster but recovered for Carew to take advantage i the same way Lampard did for the thier first.
Game then looked to be a draw at HT until Zirkhov dived and the ref fell for it because it is Chelsea of course and the never cheat eh ??
Some hope for the second half if the ref is fair to both sides.
CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS – Sidwell, Gabby, Milner and Dunne to start
Will be very interesting to see the team news today, Gabby out, Heskey, Milner, Dunne all major doubts
5live reporting that Drogba is not a starter for Chelsea
Reports now saying Luke Young in, Milner and Dunne fit but Downing rested, so maybe Warnock, left midfield ?
CONFIRMED TEAM
Friedel,
Young Collins Dunne Warnock
Miner, Petrov, Sidwell Young
Gabby Carew
Subs: Guzan, Beye, Cuellar, Davies, Salifou, Downing, Delfouneso
So Gabby fit to play, Milner and Dunne obviously OK you would hope, Downing at last rested.
WEMBLEY Semi Final Ticket Details – NO Internet sales
Thanks to Chelsea’s website being quicker than ours, we have found out the ticket details for the Semi Final on April 10th 5PM KO
Tickets are £30, £40, £50, £60 and once again we have the West End
The cheapest £30 tickets are all the upper tier and I think this sale may well go to general sale
Allocation 32,000
Will presume full details for buying Villa’s tickets will appear in due course
EDIT now on OS
Ticket Allocation confirmed as 31,837
NO internet sales, which is disappointing.
It takes a couple of reads to understand the allocation but good idea to give those who went to previous FA cup games first choice.
FA Cup Semi Final against Chelsea to be played 10th April
The FA have confirmed as predicted on this blog that the FA Cup Semi Final will kick off on Saturday 10th April at 5PM.
Best option for me anyway !!
Wembley Ticket UPDATE for FA Semi Final
Well here we go again.
Just to confirm that based on last seasons semi final we will get slightly more tickets than for the Carling Cup Final at around 32,000.
The full details will be released on Thursday 11th March but the prices are likely to be around £10-25 lower than the Carling final, so probably between £25 and £60 (link for Man U last season).
Before people start to panic again it is worth remembering for the Carling final the ticket distribution went to people with a 5 game history and it is likely that a number of season ticket holders will not go for the tickets due to cost, time and not being a final. I would not mind betting it goes on general sale to anyone with a booking history.
The game is likely to kick off either on
Saturday 10th April 17:15
or
Sunday 11th April 13:00
My best guess is that we will be the Saturday game as for TV our game is the more attractive game and the Saturday slot is for ITV the better one for advertising revenue.
Freddie’s return as Villa beat Chelsea as Weimann stars
A very encouraging first game back from Bouma as Villa reserves won 3-1 against a neat Chelsea side and strengthened the lead of the Reserve South League.
Very much like the first team we played on the counter attack and after a early scare when Chelsea ht the bar we took the lead when a strong Weimann shot was only parried in by the Chelsea keeper. A few minutes later Villa were sloppy at the back and conceded a soft goal. For the rest of the Half Chelsea dominated but Villa looked dangerous on the counter attack.
2nd half started scrappily but a fantastic overhead kick from Clark put Villa into the lead and we looked comfortable from then on and Weimann the top scorer sealed the game in the last minute after he won the ball.
The main attraction of the day was of course Bouma, he looked slim, reasonably fit and there is definite hope he can play his part in the full team, hope he recovers OK. However the stand out players were Clark at the back who was resolute and snuffed out all Chelsea’s attacks. The other player was Weimann who every time I see him is looking more and more the real deal and a top class prospect
Future stars for Villa but day belongs to the returning Freddie.
Villa reserves vs Chelsea reserves – Full Time – 3-1
FULL TIME – Very good win and excellent return for Freddie
then Weimann wins the ball, passes it to Hogg who squares it back to Weimann to seal the game
Saying that Bevan is forced to make a good save
Comfortable end from Villa in a decent game to watch
From the free kick Davies has a header saved by the goalkeeper
Davies gives a foul away right on the edge of the box, from the resulting free kick Villa broke to get their own free kick at the Holte End
Forrester on for Delf
On a break Delf shows his pace but delivery let him down
Chelsea miss a golden chance to equalise
Lichaj shoots wide, overall very quiet game for Bouma, perfect recovery
Villa GOOAALLLLL – Clark with a Gary Cahill scissor kick from a corner
Very poor half so far, no pattern and disjointed
Villa free kick, Clark over
2nd HALF
Half Time – 1-1 but Clark misses a clear header at goal. Davies looks fit enough, Weimann playing very well but the good news is that Bouma appears to be running free
Chelsea keeper makes a save from Davies
guiding header back from Bouma to Bevan after a dangerous Chelsea cross
Delf twists and turns and shoots, deflects for a corner
James Collins booked
Hofbauer wastes a great chance
Kakuta looks a class above, set up a chance there
Hofbauer shoots way over but Bouma looking slim but obviously lacking sharpness
James Collins just heads over
Chelsea playing the better football it has to be said, Villa very dangerous on the counter
Chelsea goal – Strickland from short range
Villa Goalllllll – weimann with a great shot but weak Chelsea keeping
Game kicked off and with a few minutes, Chelsea hit the bar
Very interesting game at Villa Park tonight (7PM KO). The all conquering Villa reserve side takes on a young and talented Chelsea side but from our point of view the return of Wilfred Bouma and the continued recovery of Curtis Davies is the main interest tonight.
The team is
Bevan,
Lichaj, Bouma, Clark, Davies,
Roome, Hogg, Collins, Weimann,
Delfouneso, Hofbauer.
Substitutes: Forrester, Carruthers, Roberts, Williams, Simmonds.
Updates will posted as the scores come in
The Welsh Ginge slays the Chelsea whingers !
The Welsh ginge struck to give us three points today in a tough but entertaining game. That is a decent summary of today’s game which started off strangely by not being told in the ground about the delay but ultimately finished very well. Of course if you listened to Allan Green on Radio 5 today you would have thought that Chelsea stormed again such is life when you beat a ‘sky 4’ team and get little credit for it !
Brad Freidel will be unhappy at the Drogba goal conceded but made up for that in the second half with two or three great short range saves. But of course by then we should have had a penalty and been up against 10 men, god knows how the ref missed the assault on Gabby ??
The game overall was very tightly contested and not much between the two sides though it has to be conceded Chelsea’s defending from set pieces was amateurish at best and naive at worse but you have to take advantage and we do that and more.
All the players did well today but special praise to Dunne and Collins who once again proved themselves as a top quality pairing after such little time together and probably the best centre back pairing since Southgate and Ugo,
However my man of the match is a surprising one which was Warnock, on that performance surely an England call up is not far away as he is far better than the over praised and rated Wayne Bridge.
The positive signs are there, 7 points from Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City is an excellent return, we still mess up against the lower teams but we have a very good record so far against those teams we want to compete against and as benchmarks go this was an excellent sign !
Chelsea – a mark of Villa’s hopes for this season
It is always good after the international break to come back to Villa Park, it is even better when it is a so called big club and our form is not too bad at all, it is exciting.
Games against Chelsea are usually very tight and little between the teams, it is no secret their record at Villa Park is fairly poor and even last season they did not overly impress. So they come to VP on Saturday with a good start to the season but under Ancelotti they are tight and not thrilling so once again a tight game beckons.
For both sides the internationals saw no injuries so for Villa and Chelsea and I expect fairly unchanged sides and possibly two 4-4-2’s against each other which for this season is very unusual. The key for the game is whether our wingers can exploit the space Chelsea do leave on the wings (diamond formation) for their full backs to attack and whether we can compete with the Chelsea central midfield.
I personally like many Villa fans would drop Carew for NRC for this game but I doubt that will happen and nor will Heskey be dropped from the bench. Other interesting items to note will be the attendance and whether either Luke Young or Bouma make the squad.
Looking forward to the game immensely and should be a good one and a win against a ‘sky 4’ team on top of the results against Liverpool and Man City will be very positive signs for the weeks to come.
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