Wigan Athletic
FA Youth Cup – Third Round
Saturday 1st December 2012
The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage
Kick Off: 3pm
Weather Forecast: Clear, 5°c
Tickets: £5 adult, £2 U16s
With the Stevenage first team not playing this weekend the youth team are providing an ideal opportunity to get your football fix when Boro take on Premier League Wigan Athletic in the third round of the FA Youth Cup at The Lamex Stadium.
Boro’s youngsters reached the same stage of the competition last season and performed well against Tottenham Hotspur, but fell to an agonising last minute strike, so will be hoping to go one better this year and progress to the fourth round.
How Boro got here:
Stevenage reached this third round after two excellent performances against local rivals. The first round saw Boro beat their counterparts from non-league Luton Town 3-0, courtesy of a Fejiri Okenabirhie hat-trick. The second round saw Boro emerge 6-2 winners at MK Dons. After going in 2-1 up at half time thanks to goals from Okenabirhie and Jo N’Guessan, the floodgates really opened in the second half with N’Guessan firing in a third before further strikes from Spencer McCall, Ryan Towner and Brandon Dujon.
The Wigan Scout Report
Recent Form
Wigan’s under-18s play in the new Professional Development League system introduced this season for under-17s to under-21s age groups. Having a Category 2 Academy, the Latics compete in the 12-team League 2 North with the likes of Leeds, Leicester, both Sheffield clubs and Birmingham. After a tricky start to the season which began with four consecutive defeats, form has picked up with wins in recent weeks over Sheffield United, Derby (3-1) and Leicester (2-1) and draws against Birmingham (3-3) and most recently Sheffield Wednesday (0-0).
Men to Watch
The men up front are always the ones looking to grab the headlines and it will be no different in this match where both Wigan’s Omar Thompson and Boro’s Fejiri Okenabirhie will be looking to fire their respective sides into round four. Miami-born Thompson has seven goals to his name this season, including six in the league, having joined the Latics at U18 level from the Manchester United academy where he spent three years. Meanwhile former Arsenal youngster and Nigeria youth international Okenabirhie has struck four times already in this season’s FA Youth Cup competition whilst also notching in a 3-3 draw with Watford earlier this month.
Possible teams:
Boro from: Charlie Horlock, Jamie Carey-Morrell, Harold Joseph, George Allen, Jhai Dhillon, Fejiri Okenabirhie, Ryan Towner, Rhodell Gordon, Spencer McCall, Brandon Dujon, Joseph N’Guessan, Rheo Josephs, John Edwards, Marvel Ekpiteta, Lou Porcelli, Jimmy Hartley, Jesse Parsons, Daniel Udoh,
Latics from: Michael Cottrill, Danny Leigh, Andrew Mason, Michael Wilson, Jamie Gibson, Ryan Meadows, Luke Ainscough, Jordan Flores, Donald Anderson, Patrick Christian, Omar Thompson, Jordan Unsworth, Ellis Gibbons, Ryan Jennings, Joey Johnson, Matty Hamilton.
Match Preview by Dave Toyn
Match Previews
PREVIEW: FA YOUTH CUP
29 November 2012
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