Villa may not have taken part in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday or even be playing in the F.A. Cup showpiece on May 30 but they have won one piece of silverware this season.
And it is thanks to Kevin MacDonald’s reserve side who clinched the Barclays F.A. Premier Reserve League title with a fine 3-1 win over Sunderland at Villa Park.
The Claret and Blue second string had set up a meeting with the Black Cats after winning the Southern League crown ahead of Tottenham.
The talented group of youngsters were deserved winners of that league and they were deserved winners on final night as goals from Nathan Delfouneso, James Collins and Shane Lowry eased them to victory.
Sunderland had threatened to spoil the party atmosphere as Martyn Waghorn equalised shortly after Delfouneso’s opener but they could not resist MacDonald’s men who went one better than last year to claim the National trophy.
After losing to Liverpool at the same stage last season, Villa were understandably eager to ensure that a repeat wasn’t on the cards.
Wizard
And on 25 minutes Jonathan Hogg teed up Delfouneso who sent a sizeable home crowd into raptures with a deflected shot which sailed into the net.
The away side responded immediately and Claret and Blue keeper Elliot Parish was unable to stop Waghorn’s shot despite getting a hand to it.
At half time – the two teams were pretty evenly matched but after the break Villa upped the tempo and caught Sunderland off-guard.
On 53 minutes Collins was introduced at the expense of Andreas Weimann and the big striker made an immediate impact as he headed home wing wizard Marc Albrighton’s centre.
Super Scot Barry Bannan and then Collins again both had efforts before defender Lowry latched on to a Chris Herd flick-on to seal the win three minutes before the end.
All in all it was a lively encounter at Villa Park and nice to see a trophy being held aloft at the end of what has been a brilliant season for the Claret and Blue reserves.