U18s Report: Leicester City 3 Aston Villa 1

The young Foxes responded well to Wednesday’s FA Youth Cup Semi-Final First Leg defeat at Manchester City by getting off to a fine start against Villa.
Winger Kyle Bailey latched onto Keenan King’s flick-on and took the ball past the opposition goalkeeper before slotting into put City 1-0 up in the early stages.
An improved second half performance from the visitors saw them draw level on the hour mark from the penalty spot, but defender Cedric Kipre nodded in Bailey’s corner to restore Leicester’s lead before frontman King made it 3-1 late on with a strike from eight yards.
Reflecting on a productive display, Under-18s manager Trevor Peake told LCFC.com: “We made a really positive start which we talked about in the dressing room. Our confidence had obviously taken a knock after Wednesday evening’s game up in Manchester.
“We talked about focusing in the warm-up and getting a good start to the game, and we achieved that through Kyle Bailey’s smart finish.
“We got to half-time at 1-0 and we were the better side. We could have had one more goal at least – we were around their 18-yard box for the majority of the first half.
“At the start of the second half, Villa brought a couple of subs on which changed their mentality. We expected that and we certainly had to weather a storm.
“Villa were then awarded a penalty which they put away to make it 1-1. At that point they had a period in the game in which their confidence was high, but Cedric Kipre scored a good header to make it 2-1 to us.
“It flew right into the top corner. It was great for Cedric because some of his family were over from France watching him. It made it a bit special for him.
“Keenan then made it 3-1 from close range. It was great to see the lads respond well to Wednesday’s result.”
After playing 22 games and finishing seventh in the table, City now move into the second phase of the U18 Premier League which will see them play the middle four teams from both the north group and south group.
There are ties against familiar opponents in Brighton and Hove Albion, Reading and West Ham United, while fixtures against teams from the north group include Liverpool, Sunderland, Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
With a trip to Liverpool up next, Peake added: “It’s a tough group whichever one you end up in. We haven’t played any teams from the north group yet. We’ve got Liverpool and Sunderland and then two more local teams which are in the northern section in Wolves and Derby.
“Coming up against those teams will give us a new challenge. It’s certain to be a tough end to the season, but we’re all looking forward to it.”