FA Youth Cup | Preview: Birmingham City Vs Barnsley

14 January 2020

Charlie Winfield says our U18s are full of confidence ahead of the FA Youth Cup fourth round tie with Birmingham City on Wednesday evening.

The young Reds beat Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road last month to secure a first win in this competition since 2014, and our combative midfielder insists he and his teammates are eager for success.

“It’s a big moment for all of us,” said Winfield. “It’s what everyone wants to do when you’re a youth player and we’re in good spirits from the last game against Crewe so we’re all looking forward to it.

“The win at Crewe gave us a lot of confidence because we made it past a round that we haven’t done in so many years and I think it’s taken a bit of pressure of us now that we’ve finally broken that, and we can just keep kicking on.”

Tom Harban’s side are enjoying a positive season in the Professional Development League and, in Birmingham, are up against familiar foe.

Barnsley claimed a memorable 4-2 victory on their last visit to the Midlands back in November and Winfield believes his side can repeat the trick and progress to the fifth round.

“We’re confident of getting a similar result; we know they’ve got a slightly different side to when we played them last time but we’re confident,” continued the 17-year-old.

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“We’re going into the game with no fear; it’s just another game and we’re going to treat it like another Saturday match, get the win and move on.”

“We want to play all the big teams because you don’t get many chances to play top teams at top stadiums as well, so it’s a big incentive.”

One player, in particular, who could be crucial to the Reds’ aspirations is Aiden Marsh, whose brace at Crewe fired our U18s to this stage of the competition.

The electric forward has been in fine form this campaign and has been rewarded with appearances at U23s level and was even amongst the substitutes as the first team beat Queens Park Rangers 5-3 last month.

“It gives us a lot of confidence with him leading the line,” admitted Winfield. “We know if he gets a chance, he’ll take it and we’re backing him if we need that goal – we feel like he’s the one who can get it for us.”

This fixture will be played at the home of Vanarama National League side Leamington FC:
The Phillips 66 Community Stadium, Harbury Lane, Bishops Tachbrook, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV33 9QB.

Kick-off is at 7pm.

You can watch Charlie’s full interview on iFollow Barnsley.

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Match Reports

FA Youth Cup | Report: Birmingham City 2-1 Barnsley

15 January 2020

Barnsley U18s suffered FA Youth Cup heartbreak as they exited the competition at the hands of nine-man Birmingham City in the fourth round.

Rudi Pache’s opener was cancelled out by Josh Andrews, before Kyle Hurst scored a dramatic late winner for the hosts at Leamington FC.

The young Reds largely dominated the first half and went close to breaking the deadlock inside three minutes, but Aiden Marsh dragged his shot wide of the far post.

And when Josh Bradley-Hurst failed to deal with a Brad Binns corner, Pache was on hand to head home from virtually on the goal line to give the visitors a more than deserved lead.

City looked lively on the counter-attack, and the pace of Josh Williams and Kyle Hurst combined with the physicality of Andrews had the potential to cause Barnsley problems, but Tom Harban’s side were resilient and made it to the break unscathed.

HALF-TIME: Birmingham City 0-1 Barnsley

However, just three minutes after the restart, the Blues were level as Andrews thundered home from close range after bulldozing his way through the visiting backline.

The hosts were soon reduced to ten men, though, as the electric Williams was dismissed for a late challenge on Sam Nicholson with 40 minutes still to play.

Midway through the half, the red card was flourished once more by referee Christopher O’Donnell, this time for goal scorer Andrews following an off-the-ball incident with Jordan Helliwell.

Barnsley pushed forward in search of that elusive winning goal and came close through Joe Ackroyd and Will Lancaster, who saw their efforts blocked, while Marsh blazed high and wide as the pressure continued to build.

But City delivered the knock-out blow with five minutes remaining as Hurst produced a moment of magic, flicking the ball around his man before firing an unerring strike on the half-volley that crashed in off the far post.

The Reds piled forward relentlessly in the dying stages but were unable to find a way through as Birmingham set up a fifth round tie with Wigan Athletic.

BLUES XI: Bradley-Hurst, Oakley, Powell, Campbell, Gordon, Browne, Williams, Walker, Andrews, George, Hurst.

Subs: Clayton, Djurovic, Zohore, Traore, Miller, Kinina, Finnegan.

REDS XI: Brown, Hassan-Smith (Walmsley, 78), Pache (Sila-Conde, 37), Nicholson, Calligan, Helliwell (Hodgson, 73), Ackroyd, Winfield, Lancaster, Marsh, Binns.

Not used: Widdop, Ariely, Hassell, Olatubosun.