Leicester City came from behind twice to book their place in the FA Youth Cup quarter finals after an entertaining extra-time victory over Preston North End.
Ryan Croasdale opened the scoring for Preston early on but Leicester were level within five minutes thanks to Shane Byrne to set the tone for a nip and tuck encounter.
The visitors re-established their lead with Michael McLellan’s penalty but Oliver Norburn restored parity before half time.
The midfielder firing home at the second attempt after Dominic Comrie has superbly stopped his first goal-bound effort.
The second-half saw Leicester go ahead for the first-time in the contest via the left boot of Jeff Schlep but Preston led by skipper Sean Clucks showed fantastic resolve to deservedly draw the game level through substitute Lee Clark in the 90th minute.
The 30-minute period was predictably tight and, with a penalty shoot-out looming, Leicester struck the knock-out blow with just two minutes left on the clock.
McClellan the scorer of Preston’s earlier penalty brought down Leicester’s Alien Essay inside the box and Shane Byrne was on hand to fire home the spot-kick.
Leicester then survived a penalty scare of their own in the dying seconds, with Preston’s vociferous protests leading to the dismissal of their captain.
Leicester will now face Sheffield United in the quarter final with the winners scheduled to meet either Aston Villa or Middlesbrough in the Semi’s.
The draw in full is as follows:
- Saturday 26th February – Leicester City v Sheffield United
- Wednesday 2nd March – Chelsea v Watford
- Sunday 6th March – Aston Villa v Middlesbrough
- Sunday 13th March – Liverpool v Manchester United
The Semi-Final draw is as follows (dates to be confirmed):
- Chelsea or Watford v Liverpool or Manchester United
- Aston Villa or Middlesbrough v Leicester City or Sheffield United
