Birmingham County FA powered into the Quarter Final stages of the FA County Youth Cup with a 4-1 win against East Riding - and it should have been more.
In a lively start by both teams, East Riding had the Birmingham defence working overtime, showing they were determined to put a stop to the home side's dream of retaining the prestigious trophy.
It was an unlucky fumble by the East Riding 'keeper that broke the deadlock on 7 minutes after he failed to control a Joe Hanney shot.
Andrew Morris fired home the second with a powerful header that this time, East Riding could do nothing about. The header - from a Gareth Picknell free kick - did nothing to dampen the visitor's spirits who came back strongly in the final 10 minutes of the half, narrowly flashing a shot wide of the post.
The second half began with a near miss from Gary White's free kick - typical of the second half performance. Chances went begging throughout, so it was up to Matty Lewis to pop up and get his name on the scoresheet.
With time to control the ball in the box, Lewis lived up to his standard of scoring in every County game he has appeared in with a sweet left foot shot. And it was just in time, as East Riding found their second wind, with David McCaul beating Elliot Richards on the 70 minute mark.
The comeback was short-lived though. From the restart, Andy Cameron beat three East Riding defenders to restore the cushion in the scoreline. With five minutes to go, he nearly made it two after picking up a cross from Gary White.
Team spokesman, Steve Poole admitted there should have been more goals, but was delighted for the entire team:
"I cannot fault any of our side, and am loathed to single anyone out for special praise - they all put on such a fantastic performance," he said.
"We have set our standard now and have a lot to live up to, but we go into the final 8 with a great deal of confidence from today. Against a top quality side, we showed how strong we can be throughout the whole 90 minutes."
Birmingham play the winners of Surrey FA v Lancashire FA on January 20th, 2001 - once again on home turf at County HQ.