U18s: Aston Villa 1-0 West Bromwich Albion

Aston Villa claimed local bragging rights with a win against West Bromwich Albion in the Under-18 Premier League on Saturday.

Trai’varn Mulley came off the bench to net a sublime 72^nd minute winner for the hosts, running from the halfway line before curling a shot into the top corner.

Rory Wilson struck the post in the first half before hitting the crossbar in the second, but the Young Lions were thankful to a superb save from James Wright in the closing stages for securing the victory.

The teams started the game on the same number of points (15), with the Baggies narrowly above Villa in the table courtesy of goal difference.

And the visitors came close to going ahead early on when they struck the crossbar from the edge of the box with Wright beaten.

The Baggies offered further evidence of their attacking threat when Layton Love headed over from inside the six-yard box.

Villa responded and struck the post when Wilson raced onto Charlie Pavey’s through ball and sent a shot past the ‘keeper and onto the far upright.

In the second half, Kerr Smith directed Kyrie Pierre’s corner just wide before the Young Lions produced a stunning move to open the scoring.

Starting from a goal kick, the ball was worked patiently to Mulley on the halfway line. The substitute carried the ball to the right-hand side of the penalty area before cutting inside and curling a shot into the top corner.

Mulley came close to notching an assist minutes later when he sent a cross to the back post, where Wilson thumped an effort against the underside of the crossbar.

Goalkeeper Wright preserved his clean sheet with a fine one-handed save late on as Villa took all three points.