Casey: The game was crazy but incredible
Crystal Palace Under-18s striker Benji Casey reflected on a dramatic night at Villa Park after the young Eagles defeated holders Aston Villa to reach the FA Youth Cup semi-finals on Tuesday evening.
Still trying to process the moment, Casey admitted the comeback victory was difficult to put into words.
“I don’t even know how to explain my feelings right now,” he said.
“It’s my first time going into the semi-finals and it’s just surreal. The whole game was crazy – we went 1-0 down, then got it back to 1-1 before half-time. In the second half they scored again, then Raihaan [Anderson] scored that amazing goal and Chuks [Okoli] got the last-minute winner.
“It was incredible. The whole thing was just crazy.”
Palace showed remarkable resilience on the night, coming from behind twice before sealing a dramatic 3-2 victory in stoppage time.
“We’ve got great character in this group,” Casey added. “Even when we were losing, we kept encouraging each other and believing we could get back into the game. We just kept going and in the end we got the win.”
Casey’s equaliser was his fourth goal of the FA Youth Cup campaign, but the striker insisted the result mattered more than personal accolades.
“Of course I want to keep scoring, but honestly I’m just happy about the win,” he said. “It’s amazing for the team.”
The victory also saw Palace reach the FA Youth Cup semi-finals for the first time in over 30 years – a milestone the young forward is proud to be part of.
“It’s crazy,” Casey said. “From the start of the season we believed we had the talent to go far in this tournament. Tonight we showed that against the champions from last season. We believe in ourselves and we feel like we can go all the way.”