The County Files |
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Birmingham County FA's U18 Representative Squad turn their attention to the FA County Youth Cup on Saturday, as their campaign to retain the prestigious trophy kicks off with a home tie against Shropshire. Having received a bye into Round 2 of the competition, Birmingham face a tough challenge against their local rivals who beat Cumberland FA 2-0 in Round 1. Reward for the winners on Saturday will be a 3rd Round tie against either Durham or Nottinghamshire. Durham proved stiff opposition in last year's final, whilst Nottinghamshire snuffed Birmingham's chances of a clean sweep in all competitions, snatching the Midlands Youth Challenge Cup at the end of a dramatic season which saw Birmingham lift the Gilbert Trophy, Midlands Youth Championships and the FA County Youth Cup. Once again, because of age restrictions, a virtually new-look squad has been formed from the best young talent the County has to offer. The County Squad provides a great opportunity for players yet to sign contracts to benefit from playing with others of similar ability. Although Birmingham has a good record against Shropshire in recent times, Team Spokesman Steve Poole is remaining cautious about the game: "As with any newly formed team, it takes a while for everyone to get used to playing together, and cup games can throw up surprises," he said. "A great deal of hard work goes into picking the team, with Manager Martin Sweeney and his backroom staff scouting the region for players wherever there's a game! "Until those players get out onto the pitch, you never know - all you can do is put in that hard work and trust the players to give their all. Luckily, we have a great group of lads who realise that they have a terrific chance - I'm sure they will do us and themselves proud." Birmingham CFA 3 - 0 Shropshire CFA The third round of the FA County Youth Cup will see a repeat of last year's final, after a solid performance by Birmingham against Shropshire, whilst Durham beat Nottingham 2-1. Birmingham started brightly, but both teams had chances early on. Nuneaton Borough's Tobias McIntosh attempted to chip the ball over the head of David Littleford in the 2nd minute, but the Shropshire 'keeper stood firm and collected safely. Nuneaton's Andrew Crabtree was forced to clear the ball of his line 6 minutes later, when Birmingham and Lye 'keeper Aaron O'Malley punched the ball away - only to see the ball deflect back towards his goal. Deadlock was broken on the 10 minute mark when Sutton Coldfield's Adam Hughes' powerful strike from outside of the box got the slightest of deflections to direct it out of Littleford's reach, onto his post and into the goal. In their attempt to draw level, Shropshire worked a couple of neat free kicks, but on both occasions, Ludlow's Robert Taylor saw his efforts cleared by a resilient Birmingham defence. The lead was doubled in the 27th minute when Sean Jones' attempted to turn a cross from Kidderminster Harriers' Nick Heath wide of the goal - only to see the ball sail into his own net. Shropshire emerged from their half time team talk desperate for an opportunity to pull the game back, with Birmingham suffering a blow early on, losing Nuneaton's Andy Crabtree to a painful knee injury and being replaced by Tamworth's Richard Huckfield. The visitors best chance came in the 63rd minute when Robert Taylor struck another free kick, but this time his effort was directly on goal. O'Malley was forced to dive high to his left, managing to turn the shot wide of his upright. Having soaked up the Shropshire pressure, Birmingham sealed their place in the third round of the prestigious competition with a well-deserved second strike from Adam Hughes after his Nuneaton clubmate Matthew Lamb had fed the ball inside the box from a tight angle. "This solid performance has set us up well for what we expect to be a really tough game against Durham - but one we are all very much looking forward to!" said Team Spokesman Steve Poole. |