U18s: Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa

Aston Villa suffered a 2-0 defeat at high-flying Chelsea in the Under-18 Premier League South on Saturday.

Luka Lynch hit a post for the Villans in the first half while goalkeeper Sam Lewis saved a penalty from Donnell McNeilly after the break.

The Young Lions held firm until the 73^rd minute before McNeilly opened the scoring for the hosts at Cobham Training Centre.

Substitute Shaun Wade then added a second for Chelsea in the latter stages as Villa suffered defeat on the road in west London.

Harrison Murray-Campbell headed wide an early opportunity for Chelsea before McNeilly saw his strike deflected off target.

Kobe Barbour put narrowly over the crossbar following a surging run, while Rodrigo Fortes went close for the Villans at the other end as chances came for both sides.

Villa stopper Lewis duly blocked well from Reiss Denny before Lynch struck the near post for the visitors towards the end of the first half.

Lewis then came to Villa’s rescue after the restart as he parried away McNeilly’s spot-kick to keep the scores level.

But, with the encounter hanging in the balance, the hosts finally got the breakthrough as they capitalised on a defensive error which left McNeilly with the opportunity to convert from seven yards.

And sub Wade made sure of the points in the 88^th minute when he latched on to a long ball over the top before racing through to find the net.

Trai-Varn Mulley’s deft flick almost produced a late consolation but his effort was parried to safety by Chelsea ‘keeper Ted Curd.