Under-18s: Chelsea 2-3 Wanderers

A Tom Walker brace helps Bolton's youngsters secure an impressive three points in the capital

Wanderers’ under-18s came from a goal down to secure an impressive away victory at Chelsea at the weekend.

Despite dominating the opening 20 minutes of the contest, David Lee and Tony Kelly’s side fell behind via a deflected effort.

Though the Baby Whites continued to press forward and were duly rewarded for their efforts before the break. Tom Youngs jinked his way into the Chelsea penalty area before feeding Elliot Newby, who was then illegally hauled down.

Tom Walker made no mistake from 12 yards to level the scores.

After the interval Bolton continued on the front foot and took the lead when Niall Maher finished with aplomb from 20 yards after latching onto Saul Hamer’s feed.

Chelsea responded and after a period of pressure equalised on 70 minutes, but Wanderers netted a winner late on when Youngs combined with Walker who converted from an acute angle.

“To have superb attitudes and a desire to work hard is a must at any level of football,” academy head coach Lee said. “The players had this in abundance, working hard off the ball to close the opponents down.

“The pleasing points from a development point is that with seven first year scholars and four second years, were all able to compete with elite Premier League youngsters.” 

Wanderers:Sievers, Hendrie, Matthews, Gibson, Holding, Bailey, Newby, Maher, Hamer, Youngs, Walker
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