Stoke City under-18s succumbed to a 6-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in the final of the Premier League Cup last night.
Club players past and present, including Nathan Collins and Mamady Sidibe turned out to show their support amongst a big Potters contingent of fans at the Academy Stadium in Manchester.
First team boss Michael O’Neill also watched on too.
Despite an exciting opening to the game, the first goal of the cup final didn’t come until the 40th minute when a cruel deflection from Sam Edozie deceived Stoke goalkeeper Nathan Broome.
After half-time, the Potters came close to levelling the game most notably through Mo Sankoh who was a menace to the City backline all night.
However, tiredness started to kick in at around the hour mark which was when the hosts found their second wind.
Liam Delap, son of much-loved former Stoke midfielder Rory, doubled City’s advantage on 64 minutes before James McAtee made it three just two minutes later.
The latter player soon had his second on 69 minutes before Cole Palmer made it 5-0 on 71 minutes.
Palmer dispatched a penalty five minutes later as Stoke pressed in vain for consolation goal with the trophy firmly being tied with the colours of Manchester City.
The Potters finish runners-up after a remarkable run which included an extra-time win over Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Several fans commented on the game on social media.
One fan who attended the game wrote: “Lovely to see Ryan (Shawcross), Mama Sidibe, and Nathan Collins sat amongst the Stokies cheering the lads on.”
Another stated: “Nice to see the turnout from Stoke fans at the under-18s cup final tonight! Loads stayed to applaud the team at the end too, despite losing 6-0.”
A further social media user added: “No shame in the lads tonight, they matched City for the most part and lost all confidence after a positive start to the second half.
“They did us proud and hopefully we see one or two breaking into the first team in the next few years.”
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