Charlton Youth 1 Sunderland Youth 2

CHARLTON dreams of reaching the FA Youth Cup final for the first time since 1987 were cruelly dashed 18 seconds from the end of Wednesday's quarter-final against Sunderland at The Valley.

The match was on the verge of going into extra-time when a speculative shot from Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson caught goalkeeper Joe Woolley off his line and sent the Wearsiders through 2-1 to meet favourites Manchester City in the semi-finals.

It was rough luck on the young Addicks who fought back to equalise and twice hit the woodwork.

After an uneventful first half, the tie ignited after the break and Sunderland took a 55th minute lead through striker Martyn Waghorn's close range shot.

After skipper Scott Wagstaff struck a post with an angled shot, Charlton equalised in the 64th minute through Rashid Yussuff's superbly struck 25-yard drive following a tenacious run from right-back Chris Solly.

Within a minute, Charlton striker Ben Godfrey saw a shot strike a post as Sunderland were forced to hang on until Henderson had the final word.

Charlton: Woolley; Solly, Mambo, Coleman, Long; Wagstaff, Shelvey, Stavrinou (Harkin 60 mins), Yussuff; Godfrey (O’Shea 76 mins), Uchechi.

Sub Not Used: Rygaard-Jensen, Clark, Christie.

Attendance: 1,840.