FA Youth Cup: Aston Villa 3-2 Bristol City

Mason Cotcher scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa staged a stirring comeback from 2-0 down to beat Bristol City and reach the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.

The striker bagged the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to complete the turnaround in the final seconds of a pulsating cup tie.

City had earlier built their two-goal lead via a first-half strike from Ruebin Sheppard and a close-range finish from Tomos Gibbs at the start of the second period.

Cotcher took matters into his own hands to pull his side back into the game, netting just before the hour mark and levelling the scores after 85 minutes.

He completed his treble with a smart finish from Bradley Burrowes’ cross to set up a tie against Plymouth Argyle in the last eight.

The home side came into the game on the back of dominant wins against Accrington Stanley (6-0) and Newcastle United (4-0) in the previous rounds as they looked to advance to the last eight.

Villa, who are top of the Under-18 Premier League South, started in confident fashion but found themselves behind when they conceded their first goal in the competition after 18 minutes.

A free-kick near the corner flag presented an opportunity for the visitors to throw bodies forward, and there were plenty of cream shirts surrounding Sam Proctor as Sheppard’s kick curled over the ‘keeper and dropped into the net.

The hosts quickly got back into their stride and continued to boss possession, finally calling Jack Witchard into a fingertip save when the goalkeeper reacted quickly to tip Trai-Varn Mulley’s half-volley over the bar.

Keilan Quinn bobbled an effort wide and Rodrigo Fortes’ shot from distance curled narrowly wide as the Young Lions continued to build the pressure before half-time.

City offered a reminder of their offensive threat in stoppage time when Luke Skinner flashed a drive just past the far post, with the away side settling for a one-goal lead at the break.

Villa’s task became doubly difficult when their opponents made another set piece count just five minutes into the second half.

Once again situated near a corner flag, Sheppard swung the ball in and watched on as it made its way through to Gibbs, who prodded home from two yards out.

A response was needed from Jimmy Shan’s team, and they gave themselves hope when Cotcher collected Keilan Quinn’s through ball before lashing a drive across the goalkeeper and inside the far post.

Proctor made a superb stop moments after the goal to deny Bristol a third, while opposite number Witchard tipped a drive from Mulley around the post to preserve his side’s lead.

A pulsating, end-to-end cup tie was in full flow as the game ticked into the final 20 minutes, and City spurned a glorious chance to make it 3-1 when Harry Hogg slid a shot wide after going through 1v1.

Bristol’s No10 came even closer to getting on the scoresheet after 80 minutes when Alfie Lynskey’s clearance rebounded off him and struck the crossbar before bouncing to safety.

Those chances came back to haunt the visitors when Villa struck with five minutes left, exploding with relief as Cotcher buried a shot from the edge of the box.

Relief turned to ecstasy deep in stoppage time when a clinical counter-attack led by Burrowes ended with the winger crossing for Cotcher, who kept his cool to tap home and send his side through to the quarter-finals.

Aston Villa: Proctor, Fortes (Bloomfield 60’), Routh, Carroll, Burgess, Borland, Quinn (Lynskey 60’), Mulley, Brannigan, Burrowes, Cotcher (Jenner 90’).

Unused subs: Asemota, Wilson, Hayward, Asante-Boyake.