Reading FC Under 23s Reach The Final Of The Premier League Cup

Congratulations are in order for Martin Kuhl's Under-23 side as they have beaten Norwich City 4-1 to reach the final of this season's Premier League Cup.

The starting XI featured five players who have made first team appearances such as Yakou Meite and Anssi Jaakkola, but as has been the case for most of this season, there were some much younger faces too including 17-year-old Tyler Frost.

Rob Dickie, who captained the team, was the man to give the young Royals the lead just before the half hour mark as he stabbed the ball home after Josh Barrett's free-kick had been saved.

It was 3-0 before half-time, with the second goal coming through a superb passing move that suggests that Jaap Stam's possession style football is not just present in the first team. Sam Smith was the goalscorer has he finished off the impressive team move by heading home Omar Richards' cross.

Tyler Frost got the third as he smashed the ball into the back of the net from close range after Norwich failed to clear Tennai Watson's cross, meaning that the Royals took a very comfortable lead into the break.

Norwich knew they would need a goal pretty much straight after the restart to have any chance of making a comeback, and did indeed pull one back just three minutes into the second half through Ray Grant, who must be one of the only 20-year-olds in Britain with the name Ray.

But Reading did not let that affect them, as they held firm for the rest of the game, even extending their lead back to three goals late on as Sam Smith headed in his second of the game.

One slight concern for the Royals was an injury to Yakou Meite, who hobbled off holding his calf with around 10 minutes to play after clearly being targeted for most of the match by the Norwich defence.

It's yet another fantastic achievement from the academy, who have reached the final of the Premier League for the second time in four years. Back in 2014, a side containing Liam Kelly and Jake Cooper beat Manchester City 4-3 over two legs to lift the trophy. Earlier this week, Wimb took a look at where those players are now.

The U23s will find out their opponents in this year's showpiece on Tuesday when Portsmouth and Swansea meet in the second semi-final.