17 March 2006
VIDEO: Southampton v Liverpool highlights

Two excellent teams, one incredible game. Watch the highlights from this pulsating match.

FA Youth Cup Semi-Final Result
Friday 17 March
Liverpool 4-4 Southampton (Liverpool won 5-4 on penalties)

FA Youth Cup Semi-Final, Second Leg
Thursday 23 March
Manchester City v Newcastle (Man City lead 3-2 on aggregate)

The FA Cup might grab the headlines this week, but it will take a monumental contest to equal the gladiatorial duel at St Mary's last Friday.

On a freezing night on the South Coast, Liverpool and Southampton, two giants of the youth scene, produced a wonderful game of football that ebbed and flowed like the Solent.

It was a shame there had to be a loser - Liverpool eventually edged through after a dramatic penalty shoot-out - but such was the quality on display that both sides should be considered winners.

When Liverpool keeper David Roberts saved Cedric Baseya's penalty to seal the visitors' passage through to The Final, the Saints players, putting their personal anguish to one side, rushed from the centre-circle to console their downcast team-mate. It was a lovely gesture and one that befitted such a marvellous game.

And how close the Southampton players came to securing their second final appearance in as many years.

Trailing 3-1 on aggregate after Craig Lindfield had extended Liverpool's narrow lead from the previous week's first leg, Southampton battled back and scored twice to draw level in the third minute of injury-time.

When David McGoldrick (pictured) netted his second goal of the evening in the first period of extra-time to put Southampton ahead for the first time, The Final must have been in touching distance.

McGoldrick is Saints' jewel in the crown and it is not hard to see why. Big and strong and with 35 goals to his name already this season, Saints fans still mourning the sale of Theo Walcott to Arsenal can smile again - there is a new hero in town.

But McGoldrick is surrounded by classy youngsters, so much so that Liverpool Academy coach Steve Heighway described the St Mary's outfit as 'magnificent, as good as anything I have seen at under-18 level'.

Nathan Dyer and Lloyd James were impressive in midfield and the outstanding Adam Lallana, who shone as the game wore on, are three to keep an eye on.

While the young starlets can look forward to a bright future, Liverpool can begin to plan for their first FA Youth Cup Final since 1996, when the class of Owen and Carragher ushered in a new dawn at Anfield.

Those two have written themselves into Liverpool legend in the ten years since that 4-1 win over West Ham, and few would bet against a handful of the current Academy following suit.

Liverpool have a history of producing prolific forwards and it took Lindfield just three minutes to show why he is highly regarded at Anfield, calmly tucking away past Zach Jones.

In midfield, the mercurial Adam Hammill was a constant menace with his bag of tricks, dazzling a shivering St Mary's with some sublime footwork and precise passing.

With these two and Paul Anderson driving Liverpool on, a second Youth Cup triumph is within their grasp.

Stay logged on to TheFA.com for all the buildup to Manchester City v Newcastle.