Boro lift FA Youth Cup
By Nick Johnson. Monday, 19 April 2004.
Middlesbrough 1-0 Aston Villa
Kennedy, 48
Middlesbrough win 4-0 on aggregate.
FA Youth Cup in partnership with Pepsi
Final, Second Leg
19 April 2004
Middlesbrough collected their second trophy of the season, with the juniors adding the FA Youth Cup to the Carling Cup won by the seniors, following a comprehensive aggregate win in the final.
Leading 3-0 from the first leg at Villa Park, Boro completed the task at the Riverside Stadium when Jason Kennedy scored the only goal of the night early in the second-half.
It was a sweet victory for Boro who suffered defeat in last year’s final at the hands of Manchester United.
Hundreds of fans were still queuing up outside the ground when the game kicked off and after a fairly quiet start, Villa had the first effort of goal when Gabriel Agbonlahor set up Luke Moore whose shot was saved by David Knight.
Boro’s James Morrison, who scored twice in the first leg, then tested Robert Olejnik with a low shot.
Villa were desperate to force a goal before the break to spark hopes of a comeback and they did most of the running towards the end of the first-half.
Shane Paul was off-target with a drive from the edge of the ‘D’ while Magnus Troest’s header from a Craig Gardner free-kick was tipped over by Knight. Gardner was in the thick of the action again moments later when his well-struck effort was saved by Knight.
Boro defender Matthew Bates met a right-wing corner with a firm header, but the ball hit the side-netting.
Kennedy scored for Boro three minutes after the re-start to give the home side a 4-0 aggregate lead and effectively kill the game off as a contest. Anthony McMahon’s free-kick, pumped into the area, was headed on to Kennedy who chipped beyond Olejnik with the ball going in off the keeper’s left-hand post.
David Wheater, scorer of the opening goal in the first leg, got on the end of an Andrew Taylor cross, but his tame header posed no problems for Olejnik.
As Villa went in search of a consolation goal, Agbonlahor scooped a shot over from a good position following good work from Moore.
Villa’s Paul Green was fortunate to escape with a booking after chopping down Anthony Peacock and his team-mate Gary Cahill had a similar escape following a late challenge on Morrison.
Moore almost sliced the ball into his own net when clearing a corner while at the other end, Steven Foley sent a long-range free-kick wide.
The Middlesbrough players, wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for legendary former Boro and England captain George Hardwick who died at the age of 84, celebrated their victory at the final whistle and did a lap of honour.
Team Details
Middlesbrough: Knight, McMahon, Masters, Bates, Wheater, Kennedy (Johnson, 76), Liddle, Taylor, Craddock (Reed, 82), Morrison, Peacock
Aston Villa: Olejnik, Ward (Kabeya, 58), Green, Troest, Cahill, Foley, Paul (Morgan, 79), Gardner, Moore, Agbonlahor, Nix
Referee: A D’Urso
Attendance: 16,321
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