Everton u18 1-1 Wolves - 6th March 2018

Manasse Mampala lashed home a stunning late volley to secure Everton Under-18s a 1-1 draw with Wolves at USM Finch Farm and keep the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the U18 Premier League.

It was Everton who had the initial, and potentially best, chance of the first half after just a matter of seconds. Following a knockdown from Ellis Simms, Mampala ran through the visitors' defence, before unleashing a hard, low shot, which was kept out by visiting goalkeeper Jackson Smith.

Wolves responded well to the early scare. Two minutes later from a corner of their own the ball fell kindly to Terry Taylor, with Nicolas Hansen in the Toffees goal glad to see the midfielder's shot sail over.

On ten minutes, it was evident Korede Adedoyin was able to pose his opposite number some problems, twice beating his man and releasing crosses, both unfortunately evading Simms in the centre. Again, Wolves created a chance of their own in return, this time the quick Ryan Giles finding some space but unable to hit the target with his left-footed shot, as the opening period drew to a close.

Seven minutes into the second half Wolves opened the scoring. The ball was whipped into the box from the right-hand side to Giles who got his shot away, only for Hansen to pull off a good save. Taylor Perry was first to the rebound, however, with the alert midfielder volleying into the corner.

On the hour mark, coach Paul Tait switched things up by bringing Pawel Zuk and Ethan Warnock - but Wolves were the next to create another opportunity. An almost carbon copy of the goal nearly brought the away side a second, but Perry could not keep his shot down sufficiently to double his side's lead.

With 15 minutes to go, Everton started to crank up the pressure after Elliot Richards had the ball in the net from a Tom Scully free-kick, only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.

Six minutes later the Blues came close again, as Mampala struck the post following a nice move involving Warnock and Scully. No matter. Mampala soon had his goal, expertly meeting a Tom Warren cross to volley home above Wolves 'keeper Smith, levelling the scores and ensuring Everton climb above Liverpool into second.