Michael Laffey scored his first goal at under-18 level as Liverpool battled their way into the last 16 of the FA Youth Cup.
Laffey, a 17-year-old homegrown midfielder, capitalised on a first-half goalkeeping mistake for what proved the winner as the young Reds held on for a 1-0 fourth round win at Port Vale on Wednesday night.
In a game played in difficult conditions on a heavy pitch, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's side - for whom Bobby Clark started - were put under pressure for significant periods by a Vale side appearing at this stage of the competition for the first time in a decade.
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A frantic opening in which both teams could have scored set the tone for a high-paced encounter. Inside the first minute, Laffey was played in behind the Vale defence but, with only goalkeeper Reuben Perry to beat, pulled his shot wide. Then, as Vale broke from a Liverpool corner, Wellity Lucky made an excellent goalline clearance to save a certain goal.
Clark then drew a save from Perry after a jinking run inside the area, but Vale started to increase the pressure and forced a succession of corners.
However, it was from one such set-piece that Liverpool scored the only goal on 19 minutes. On the counter-attack, a searching pass from Iwan Roberts over the top sought out the breaking Laffey, and the midfielder was able to tap into the empty net after Perry, racing from his area, misjudged the bounce and completely missed his attempted clearance.
Vale, though, continued to ask serious questions of the Liverpool defence and dealt better overall with the conditions. And the Reds had narrow escapes either side of half-time, first when goalkeeper Luke Hewitson saved with his legs after home skipper James Plant was sent clear, and then when Ben Lomax his the underside of the bar from close range moments into the second half.
Hewitson then clutched a header from Plant and later held a shot from Tommy McDermott after a clever set-piece move from the home side, but Liverpool stuck to their defensive duties for a well-earned clean sheet and triumph.
Liverpool U18s are next in action on Saturday when they entertain Everton at Kirkby in U18 Premier League North (kick-off 11am).
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Hewitson; Davidson, Lucky, Samuels, Scanlon; Miles, Laffey, Pilling; Clark, Danns (Young 62), Roberts. Subs: Trueman, Giblin, Gyimah, Pennington, Gift, Ahmed. BOOKINGS: Scanlon, Davidson, Clark.
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