THERE was pain for Canvey Island’s popular loan keeper Josh Vickers last night as his mistake helped Chelsea’s youngsters see off Arsenal and reach the FA Youth Cup final.
Young Gunner Vickers, who has spent much of the season at Park Lane, was one of Arsenal’s best players over the two legs but inadvertantly turned in Charlie Colkett’s cross with his leg in the first half of the second leg between the two London giants.
Chelsea, who were leading 2-1 after the first leg at Stamford Bridge, went on to win the game 1-0 and will now meet Fulham in the final.
It was such a shame for Vickers who has starred right through Arsenal’s cup run, but he showed great character to make a number of fine stops after conceding the opener to keep Arsenal just the one goal behind.
Also in Arsenal’s team was Thurrock-born attacker Alex Iwobi, who wasted perhaps Arsenal’s best chance of an equaliser when he inexplicably tried to pass with just the Chelsea keeper Mitchell Beeney to beat after swapping passes with Chuba Akpom.
The game was played out in front of nearly 10,000 fans including the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
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