Solihull Moors 1 – 0 Everton U21s
On Tuesday night, Everton U21s played away at Solihull Moors in Group C of the National League Cup and were narrowly beaten after losing Melvin Matos to a straight red card for a poor lunging tackle.
The first half was goalless after a tightly contested first 45 minutes at Damson Park. Braiden Graham should have scored when through on goal but he delayed his shot and a defender came across him to block the ball behind.
Everton’s youngsters came under a lot of pressure in the second period, having to defend deeply at times after losing Matos in the 52nd minute. He slid in feet first on Hoti and the referee had no hesitation in immediately showing him the red card. Something was said in the aftermath and the referee had to calm things down.
Graham was a usual live wire mounting attacks down the left wing. Dodds got the Blues’ first yellow card for a late tackle. They held out until the 78th minute when, after a terrible giveaway by Gardner, their striker got through and hit the post, the ball coming back off Barnsley and into the Everton net.
Justin Clarke came on and had a good run in on goal but couldn’t beat the keeper from a narrow angle.
Solihull hit the same post 5 minutes later and this time the ball ricocheted agonisingly along the line and past the other post for a lucky Blues escape as they played out 6 minutes of added time without really threatening the Solihull goal.
Everton U21s: Barnsley, Finney, Van Schoor, Gardner, Dodds [Y:72′], Foster (62′ Bates), Benjamin (76′ Clarke), Patterson, Loney (85′ Murdock), Matos [R:52′], Graham.
Subs not Used: G Pickford, Evans, Carrington, Gomez.