U18s: Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace

A second-half fightback, fuelled by a brace from Mason Cotcher, saw Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace in the Under-18 Premier League.

The hosts fell behind after 28 minutes when Jesse Derry sent a free-kick up and over the wall and into the back of the net.

Cotcher levelled the scores from the penalty spot on 61 minutes before putting his side in front with a close-range finish shortly after.

Victory was wrapped up with a flourish in stoppage time via a stunning goal from Cole Brannigan.

The Eagles had made a mixed start to the campaign but they threatened early on at Bodymoor Heath, with Zack Harry Henry hitting the post.

The visitors kept the pressure up and were rewarded for their play with the opening goal when Derry stepped up and curled a free-kick past Owen Asemota from just outside the box.

A fine goalline clearance from a Villa defender denied Palace’s Kai-Reece Adams-Collman from making it 2-0 shortly after.

The home side upped their game in the second half and signalled their intent via efforts on target from Brannigan and George Hemmings, with the latter also seeing a goal ruled out for offside.

Just after the hour mark, Villa were handed a golden chance to equalise from the penalty spot when Trai-Varn Mulley was brought down in the area.

Cotcher stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with his spot kick to level the scores.

The turnaround was complete five minutes later when a long crossfield pass picked out Brannigan, with the forward’s low cross turned home by Cotcher.

Aside from a Ben Casey shot, Villa were rarely troubled before Brannigan secured the win with a stunning strike in stoppage time.

The forward picked the ball up on the edge of the box and sent a dipping drive flying into the top corner to confirm all three points.