Late Davis Equaliser Secures Point For Under-21s In Birmingham

An 89th-minute equaliser from right-back Luca Davis ensured Everton’s Under-21s took a share of the spoils in their penultimate Premier League 2 game of the season. Davis controlled and turned home a return ball from Shea Pita to secure a point for Paul Tait’s side, who sit 18th in the league table with their final match to play. Joel Catesby was named in Everton’s starting line-up, playing his first minutes for the Under-21s since suffering a broken fibula and a dislocated ankle in an EFL Trophy defeat at Bradford City. The match was played in difficult conditions with a strong goal-bound wind working against the Toffees in the first half, though they were able to carve out a few chances in the opening 45 without seriously testing Will O’Sullivan in the Birmingham goal. Omari Benjamin was found by Davis in the 10th minute with an accurate cross from the right, but his header held slightly in the wind and O’Sullivan was able to make the save. The Toffees had to defend resolutely with the wind working against them in the opening half and they did just that, a combination of Davis, Douglass Lukjanciks and Malik Olayiwola blocking one goal-bound effort in the 22nd minute before Benjamin made a vital block to deflect Caleb Sanders’ effort into the side-netting on the half-hour. At the other end, Benjamin saw an effort blocked on the line by defender Jack Quirk after good work from Catesby, bursting into the box and squaring for the Everton striker. Aled Thomas had to be alert from the resulting counter to get across and clear the ball before Alexandra Da Silva, in on goal from a long ball, could get a shot off. Tait introduced Braiden Graham at the break in place of Catesby, and the Northern Irish youth international was soon in the thick of things, cutting in from the left and curling two efforts narrowly off-target in the early stages of the second half, while Josh van Schoor saw a goal-bound effort blocked by a defender in the 53rd minute. Five minutes later and the deadlock was broken by the hosts. Louie Rea found space in the box and fired a low shot at goal. It bounced off the inside of the post and rolled across the goal-line. The ball was collected by the Toffees and play continued for a few seconds, until the officials confirmed the ball had crossed the line. Everton immediately worked the ball forward from the restart and Kingsford Boakye was unfortunate to see his powerful effort bounce off the far post and out after neat play in the box from Benjamin and Olayiwola. Olayiwola looked set to equalise in the 69th minute as he pounced on an under-hit backpass, nipped the ball past O’Sullivan and had the goal at his mercy, only for the Birmingham keeper to wipe the Toffees midfielder out in a mistimed attempt to kick the ball, right on the edge of the box. O’Sullivan was perhaps fortunate to only see a yellow card for denying Olayiwola a goalscoring opportunity and the Toffees’ frustration was compounded when a free kick was given rather than a penalty, with O’Sullivan duly turning the ball over the bar from Callum Bates’ dead ball. Time was running out for the young Toffees but they were able to force an equaliser in the 89th minute. Davis and substitute Pita combined down the right, passing the ball neatly around the Birmingham defence and when Pita duly found Davis, who had made a perfectly-timed run into the box, the right-back showed great composure to trap the ball, turn and side-foot an effort past O’Sullivan from a tight angle. Speaking after the game, Tait told evertonfc.com: “The wind spoiled the game for both teams. We were just camped in our own half in the first half, with the odd counter-attack, but never really created anything. We defended well and kept it 0-0 until half-time, which I thought was good in the conditions. Dougie came for some good crosses and looked really assured. “The second half was about us, once we had the wind, keeping them camped in their half. Could we produce some quality in the final third? And we were lacking, to be honest. “There wasn't any real quality, composure, intensity as well. So that's something that we've just got to keep trying to get better at and trying to work on for the players. “Luca showed perseverance, personality and grit (for the equaliser). He shows that all the time, every training session. We feel like when he plays right back, he's a threat for us. “Probably the brightest thing about today was seeing Joel back fit, playing 45 minutes. We were all there with his horrific injury at Bradford. He did well and there's more to come from him.”