Stoke City's under-21 side suffered a 4-0 defeat away to FC Halifax Town in the National League Cup on Tuesday night. The young Potters were outplayed at The Shay by a Halifax team in strong cup form.
Goals from Tommy McDermott, Amari Morgan-Smith, Connor Douglas and Ben Tollitt sealed the comprehensive victory for the hosts. It marked a third consecutive win in the competition for Halifax, who had previously beaten Wolves and Derby County. McDermott described his side's performance as "so calm and composed".
The fixture offered affordable access for supporters, with adult tickets priced at £5 and free entry for under-12s when accompanied by an adult. The result comes as the Stoke City first team, sitting sixth in the Championship with 16 points, prepare for a league trip to Derby County this weekend. The senior side's next fixture is a Championship match away at Derby County on Saturday, where they will aim to build on their current points total of 16. In their last outing, the first team conceded three goals within the first 33 minutes against Middlesbrough.
Attention now turns to that Championship encounter at Pride Park on Saturday. Derby, currently 23rd, won the last meeting between the sides 2-0 in April. Stoke will be aiming to bounce back from their own 3-2 loss to Middlesbrough last weekend and consolidate their play-off position. Check the latest standings to see how the table shapes up.
The original report is at FC Halifax Town
The senior side's focus is now on the Championship, where they sit 8th with 16 points. They face Derby this Saturday aiming to bounce back from their 2-3 loss to Middlesbrough on October 13th. In that match, Róbert Boženík scored an 85th-minute consolation, assisted by George Hirst, after Neto Borges's own goal had briefly levelled the scores. The defeat ended a four-game unbeaten run in the league.
