Aston Manor 
Aston Villa Football Academy 2nd match report – vs Sandwell College (AOC Summer League) – Wednesday 26th May 2021
This week Aston Villa 2nd team played away against West Bromwich Albion (Sandwell Academy) in the AOC summer league. The 1st teams home game against Sheffield Utd was postponed due to issues in the Sheffield camp. Although this was the case, we couldn’t field a fit goalkeeper. The fixture build-up over the last couple of weeks is taking its toll on the squad. Utility man Josh Kniveton was between the sticks for todays game.
The 1st half started strong for Villa, a good compact defence when out of possession and some tricky players in possession when we won back the ball.
In the 5th minute Jordan won a corner on the far right after really good work from Jahvarn and captain Vishnu. Left winger Corey Leslie whipped in a dangerous corner that the West Brom goalkeeper couldn’t keep hold of. Once he fumbled the ball, Andy was on site to tap in from close range. Villa 1-0 up.
In the 13th minute a brilliant cross from wide right by centre midfielder Andy Edwards was met by striker Jahvarn, who headed it just over. Villa unlucky to not go 2-0 up.
The game continued with lots of possession for Aston Villa. We found ourselves quite narrow at times and struggled to keep the ball due to making the pitch a lot smaller. The game started to become a bit scrappy.
In the 37th minute Emmanuel came off injured after a tough West Brom tackle. Musa came on wide right, Jordan over to the left and Corey dropping to left back. Great to see lots of adaptability in the Villa squad.
In the 45th minute a mistake by centre back Thierry Davis allowed the West Brom lone striker to have a free strike on goal. Just inside the box the strike flew past goalkeeper Josh into the bottom corner. Unlucky for Villa and first attempt for West Brom ends up as an equaliser in first half injury time.
Half Time West Bromwich Albion 1 Aston Villa 2nds 1
Half time change, with centre back Reece Weston coming on for Thierry Davis in a straight swap.
In the 58th minute Jahvarn Mighty picked up the ball just outside the box, one touch and then a great strike that hits the crossbar and bounces against the back of the West Brom goalkeeper. Substitute Musa’s the first to react, his quick thinking gets him to the ball first to tap into the goal to put Villa ahead for the second time.
In the 77th minute a mistimed challenge by stand in goalkeeper Josh Kniveton gave West Brom a penalty and chance to make the score 2-2. A well-placed penalty gave West Brom an undeserved equaliser.
Villa tried to push forward in the last 10 minutes, deciding to chance formations from 1-4-3-3 to 1-4-4-2, giving Jahvarn an extra body upfront to try and grab a winner.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be Villa’s day today. The lads had to accept a 2-2 draw. Well done Villa.
Full Time 2-2
