A commanding victory for Lee Bell’s U18s in the FA Youth Cup sees them progress to Round Four.
The young Reds dominated Hull City despite only managing to win 1-0 to advance to the next round of the FA youth cup thanks to a late strike from Matus Holicek.
Lee Bell’s U18 side dictated the game with lots of chances and free flowing passing football. With chances not going their way, the young Railwaymen kept going and didn’t get frustrated with their goal eventually coming in the 84th minute as Holicek tucked the ball away in the bottom corner from inside the box.
The Alex took control of the game for the large part of the first half, having a lot of possession and continued to create opportunities. In the ninth minute which came through Holicek who pulled the ball back into a crowded six-yard box, where Salisbury didn’t quite have enough space to get his backheel away.
Joel Tabiner twisted and turned past two Hull defenders on the by-line, powering a shot towards the near post forcing an excellent save by the opposition keeper. Moments later, he got to the by-line again, this time opting to flash a fantastic ball across the six-yard box with Woodcock inches away from putting us in the lead.
Lee Bell’s men were unlucky not to go in ahead, but the second half to follow was much of the same and it was only a matter of time before we got onto the scoresheet.
Crewe carried on working hard to find space and open Hull up in the final third with the first chance of the second half coming after just three minutes when Tabiner’s corner found Zak Kempster-Down free on the penalty spot, but he couldn’t keep the header down to challenge Macauley in the Hull goal.
Macauley kept Hull in the game with some great saves, with Holicek, Finney and Salisbury all firing in shots towards the visitor’s goal. Meanwhile, Hull registered their first shot on target in the 79th minute with a long-ranged effort from Hall, which bounced awkwardly in front of Tom Booth, but he dealt with it well to keep the scores level.
In the 84th minute Crewe finally broke the deadlock and took the lead. Woodcock’s looping cross was half-cleared by the Hull defence to Holicek. The Slovakian shifted the ball onto his weaker foot before finding the bottom corner with just six minutes left on the clock. It wasn’t plain sailing to victory though, as Tom Booth was forced into a terrific save in injury time.
In the closing stages Holicek was booked for pulling his man back and Owen Lunt’s late challenge also landed him with the same fate.
The 1-0 victory sends the Alex into the fourth round of the FA Youth cup with a stunning performance worthy of a win.
Crewe: T.Booth, Webster, Lawton, Lunt, O’Riordan, Kempster-Down, Woodcock, Tabiner, Salisbury, Finney, Holicek.
Subs used: Bhatti, Crolla, Martins.