U18's Squad Vs Sussex

Norfolk U18's Semi-Final Opponents Announced

Norfolk U18's Squad Announced to play Cheshire
Norfolk U18's are to travel to Cheshire in the Semi-Finals of The FA County Youth Cup.

Norfolk U18’s to travel to Cheshire in Semi-Final of The FA County Youth Cup

Norfolk reached the Semi-final stage by beating Cornwall in the second round for which a match report can be found here. Then beating the Isle of Man in the third round thanks to goals from Emre Upston and James Bemrose. A full match report for the game against the Isle of Man can be found here.

In the Quarter-Finals Norfolk travelled to Lancing to face a strong Sussex side. The game was a scrappy affair with both sides struggling to convert chances. Norfolk scored the only goal of the game thanks to Deagan Watts when he was played through on the left by Lewis Johnson and ran the ball into the penalty area before slotting the ball past the keeper. A full match report can be found here.

Similarly to Norfolk, Cheshire received a bye in the first round of the competition. In the second round Cheshire hosted Sheffield & Hallamshire and comfortably beat them 7-2. In the third round they experienced their first away tie to Lancashire where they narrowly won by two goals to one. The Quarter-Final stage saw Cheshire require extra-time and penalties to beat Gloucestershire. The score remained 2-2 after extra-time and in the lottery that is penalties, Cheshire won 4-2 to set up the Semi-Final tie against Norfolk.

Gavin Lemmon, Norfolk FA U18’s Manager, spoke of his excitement of the match: “We are fully expecting an extremely difficult fixture against Cheshire as they have beaten some excellent Counties on their route to the Semi Final, but we will travel there with the confidence that we have got a good group of players that have excelled themselves once again this season to get us in this position where we are in the final four alongside three big County FA’s.

“As a squad we are very used to travelling away from home, enjoying trips to Cornwall and Sussex so far this season. This away trip we will once again embrace the occasion, make the most of the time we’ll have with the players on the Friday with the focus very much on this game only, beyond that is irrelevant for me.

“The players have done the County and Norfolk Football proud to date; I have no doubts that they will continue to do so with this fixture.”

The following players have been selected for this fixture:

  • James Bemrose – Long Stratton 
  • Jack Cottingham – Gorleston, Norwich CEYMS
  • Jordan Forbes – Norwich United
  • Josh Ford – Great Yarmouth Town
  • Harrison Gilding-Hewitt – Wroxham
  • Lewis Johnson – Dereham Town, Norwich CBS
  • Max Lane – Norwich United 
  • Reuben Lane – Norwich United
  • Connor Milligan – Gorleston
  • Owen Murphy – Dereham Town
  • Brady Philpott – Gorleston, Caister
  • Aaron Rich - Dereham Town, Mattishall
  • Sam Tinkler – Dereham Town
  • Emre Upston – King's Lynn Town
  • Daegan Watts – Wroxham
  • Cameron Wing – Gorleston, Norwich CEYMS


Colours:
 Red shirts, Red shorts, White socks

Manager: Gavin Lemmon
Assistant Manager: Chris Linehan
Coaches: Harry Diggens
Physio: Drina Brookman 

The game kicks off at 1:00pm at Vauxhall Sports Club, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire on Saturday 23 February. If you are unable to come and watch the match you can follow the game live on our Twitter feed, @norfolkcountyfa.