Ipswich Town clung on to claim a place in the third round of the FA Youth Cup via a fighting 2-1 victory over a spirited Exeter City side at Portman Road.

First-half goals from Connor O’Reilly (pictured) and Colin Oppong had Town on easy street as Exeter failed to test goalkeeper Jake Alley in the home goal.

But a header midway through the second half by the Grecians’ captain Louis Morison and a couple of impressive stops by Alley made the passage to the next round far from certain.

Ipswich’s reward for their battling victory sees them face a testing away trip to Championship side Cardiff City.

It was the away side who had the first chance of the afternoon as some slack play allowed Exeter forward Nelson Iseguan to find space and shoot, which he dragged well wide.

From there it was all the home side as full-back O’Reilly scored again, as he did in the previous round, poking home from close range as Exeter struggled to clear from a corner in the sixth minute.

The Tractor Boys were dominant but failed to add to their advantage as they struggled to break down a stubborn Exeter rearguard.

But their resistance was broken with less than 10 minutes to go to the break as a pinpoint cross was chested down by Oppong and he used his strength to turn and lash the ball into the roof of the net.

The Blues threatened to stretch the Grecians' defence further as the Impressive O’Reilly and Zak Brown, who was a standout in the last round, engineered a beautiful move but Liam Gibbs’s finish was tame.

It was vital the Devon side didn’t concede again, and luck was on their side after the break as only five minutes gone, Town winger Tyreece Simpson unleashed a thunderbolt from 25 yards that cannoned back off the post.

The away side pressed hard after that and had a golden opportunity to get back into the contest, but Alley pulled off a tremendous save when Ben Chrisene should have done much better.

Simpson almost scored again but the Blues’ failure to find that killer goal was to come back to haunt them as Exeter captain Louis Morison was given time to run onto a front-post cross, and his header looped into the far corner to halve the deficit.

Sensing a change in momentum, the away side were almost level as substitute Ellis Johnson forced a wonderful save from Alley to keep Town’s narrow advantage intact as the game entered the last 15 minutes.

After that though Exeter failed to threaten the home goal although there was a massive sense of relief from the crowd inside Portman Road that Town had got away with a poor second half performance.

U18s: Alley, O'Reilly, Fehrenbach, Henderson (c), Smith, Z Brown, Alexander, Healy (Cutbush 66), Gibbs, Oppong (Viral 59), Simpson (Ruffles 83). Unused: Wyss, Bort, Baker, Reed.

Photo: TWTD

BlueArrow added 19:31 - Nov 16 Well done very enjoyable to watch so glad I got my footy fix this afternoon.
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uptheblues2000 added 21:02 - Nov 16 that right winger ruffles that came on second half looked a strong player. disappointed young teddy baker didn't come on reminds me of a young Toni Kroos. alley looked a great ball playing gk, where was tawande today? can only assume he was away with England at youth level.
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Juryisout added 21:12 - Nov 16 Have to agree with uptheblues2000, ruffles has looked good the last few outings, teddy baker had a great game last week away at Watford and disappointing not to see him get a start. Alley pulled off some class saves in the sticks today. Couple of usual faces struggled today in midfield, Simpson just back worked hard. Good result but team didn't gel, might need a shake up.

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Upthetown1970 added 06:54 - Nov 17 Congratulations to the u18's progressing through to the next round. First half was a very strong performance but the second half was terrible. We got into just lumping the ball forward which wasnt pretty to watch. Definitely chalk and cheese halves. Talking with a member of the club Tawanda was back with the u16's yesterday. He hasn't been selected for an u18 squad yet which is very confusing as he was called up for the first team ? Very strange!. Any way good luck in the next round.

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FAcup78 added 07:25 - Nov 17 Great first half. I also would have liked to have seen Baker play today as hes a player who likes to play through the midfield which would have brought Gibbs into the game more as he was getting bypassed by the long balls up to our 2 powerful lads up top. Gibbs showed flashes of excellence when given the ball so I can see why he was given a sniff at the first team set up. Great result good luck in the next round. The future looks bright.

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brian_a_mul added 19:09 - Nov 17 Who was the left winger who crossed for the second goal/??? His skill, pace and cross was impressive for tbe second goal.
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