Ex-Claret Younger scores in under-23 play-offs
Crystal Palace and Sunderland beat Wolves and Stoke respectively last night to win a place in the final of the Division 2 play-off final in Premier League 2 with former Burnley defender Oliver Younger scoring a crucial goal for Sunderland.
Sunderland have come from nowhere to reach the play-offs, winning five of six games which left them needing a couple of points against second place Stoke in two final games. They got them with two draws which paired them with a third successive game against Stoke in the play-offs.
That game was played last night at the bet365 Stadium. Josh Hawkes, who was Division 2’s joint leading scorer alongside Aston Villa’s Louie Barry, opened the scoring early in the second half before Younger (pictured), one of two former Burnley players in their team alongside Will Harris, added the second with a header some twenty minutes from the end to give Sunderland a 2-0 win.
Younger left us last summer. The club initially said there might still be an offer for him but he was free to talk to other clubs. He opted to move to Sunderland where he’s been around the first team for much of the season and made his Football League debut in a 2-0 home win against Rochdale in March. I think last night might have been his first goal for Sunderland although they had a long wait before the final whistle blew with 14 minutes of time added on for various stoppages.
Sunderland’s opponents in the final will be Crystal Palace who had to play extra time before beating Wolves. Palace led 2-0 at half time with goals from Robert Street and Jay Rich-Baghuelou but Wolves came back after the break with two Theo Corbeanu goals, one at the start of the half and one fifteen minutes from the end. Having gone into extra time, Palace went on to win it 3-2, courtesy of a 100th minute goal from substitute David Omilabu.
The winners of the final will join Leeds in Division 1 with Leicester and Southampton dropping into Division 2.
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