Stoke City U18s 1-2 Everton U18s

Goals from striking duo Chris Long and Anton Forrester (above) meant Everton leapfrogged opponents Stoke City in the Academy League table.

Long, who played 45 minutes for the reserves in midweek, struck shortly before half-time and Anton Forrester doubled the lead after the break with a 20-yard effort.

The Potters pulled a goal back through Michael Clarkson but Everton held on for a 2-1 victory.

Everton: Fitzgibbon, Higgins, Heneghan, Dier (c), Barrow, Grant, Molyneux, Jones, Forrester, Long, Hope.

Subs: Taudul, Green, Shannon (Grant).

Stoke City: Bachmann, Roberts-Nurse, Parry, O'Reilly, Hall, Richardson, Clarkson, Dawson (c), Scott, Musungu, Nardiello.

Subs: Richards, Eve, Sinclair, Debayo, Rossi (Roberts-Nurse 89).

Elsewhere, Everton U16s beat their Stoke counterparts by a goal to nil. The match-winning goal was scored by Courtney Duffus, recently signed from Cheltenham Town along with his brother Tyrone, and assisted by Danny O'Brien.

Trio In England U18 Squad

Everton Academy defender Eric Dier has earned a first call-up to the England U18 squad for a fixture against Slovakia in two weeks' time, joining clubmates Hallam Hope and John Lundstram in Noel Blake's 18-man party.

The squad travel to Slovakia on 16th November for the friendly fixture.

Dier, born to English parents, grew up in Portugal after his family moved there when he was young. He came through the ranks at Sporting Lisbon's academy but has spent the last two seasons on loan at Everton.

It is unclear whether Everton will be able to keep hold of Dier after the latest loan spell expires as Sporting are thought to value the player highly.

Thanks to his childhood having been spent abroad, Dier is eligible to play for Portugal, but has in the past stated his desire to play for England, for whom he participated in a promotional photoshoot back in 2008 (above).

Midfielder Lundstram and forward Hope both played at the U17 World Cup in the Summer just gone and both have retained their places in the squad for the Slovakia game.

The trio join Jake Bidwell, Ross Barkley and Jack Rodwell in being called up to various England youth sides in recent days. The future's bright, the future's blue.

Manchester United Res 2-0 Everton Res

Goals from Will Keane and Jesse Lingard saw off an experienced Everton side in this lively encounter.

Everton's travelling party included names such as Marcus Hahnemann, Ross Barkley, Magaye Gueye and James McFadden, as well as players such as Chris Long and Anton Forrester who have been impressing for the U18 side of late.

The Everton line-up was; Hahnemann, Browning, Mustafi, Nsiala, Bidwell, Forshaw, Lundstram, Barkley, Gueye, Stracqualursi, McFadden, with a substitutes bench consisting of Davies, Hope, Dier, Forrester and Long.

United started brightly and found themselves a goal to the good after just 6 minutes when Will Keane jinked through the Everton defence and lashed a shot past Marcus Hahnemann.

Ross Barkley saw an effort fly over the bar, although the majority of the action was at the other end of the field. Davide Petrucci and Jesse Lingard were both denied by Hahnemann, whilst an exceptional sliding tackle from Shkodran Mustafi blocked a goal-bound Mame Biram Diouf shot.

United's England U19 international Larnell Cole was thwarted by Hahnemann, but Everton shaded the final 10 minutes of the first half and both Adam Forshaw and Denis Stracqualursi had opportunities to draw the visitors level.

James McFadden was replaced by Chris Long, rewarded for his fine goalscoring form with the U18s, at the break. The hosts also made a change, bringing on Sean McGinty for Ezekiel Fryers.

With almost an hour on the clock, Everton came within inches of an equaliser. Magaye Gueye smashed a left-footed shot onto the bar with United keeper Ben Amos a spectator.

Ross Barkley showcased his talent with a free-kick and a long-range strike, but it was United who scored the second - and decisive - goal. McGinty crossed and forward Lingard secured the win on 82 minutes.

Crewe Alexandra U18s 1-4 Everton U18s

Goals from Adam Thomas, Anton Forrester and Chris Long (2) handed Everton's U18 side a comfortable win against bottom-of-the-table Crewe Alexandra this morning.

Forrester (pictured above) scored his 6th goal of the season to give Everton the lead and the visitors' advantage was doubled before the break by Adam Thomas.

Chris Long, who netted a last minute equaliser in last weekend's academy derby, scored a second-half brace to put some gloss on the scoreline.

Everton U18s: Fitzgibbon, Touray, Dier, Heneghan, Pennington, Thomas, Barrow, Molyneux, Orenuga, Long, Forrester.

Subs: Roberts, Higgins, Hope.

Elsewhere, new signing George Green scored his second goal in as many games for the U16 side, although they lost 2-1 to the same opposition, Crewe Alexandra.

Norwich City Reserves 2-1 Everton Reserves

A youthful Everton reserve side lost 2-1 to Norwich at Carrow Road on Tuesday night in their third fixture of the season.

The visitors were missing a host of players for various reasons. Both regular centre backs Shane Duffy and Shkodran Mustafi were away on international duty with Ireland U21 and Germany U19 respectively.

Nigerian duo Yakubu and Joseph Yobo, who had both featured in the second string's opening two games, were also absent form the squad. Yobo is expected to complete his protracted transfer to Fenerbahce tomorrow, whilst Yakubu could also be on his way out.

That meant that coach Alan Stubbs had a young set of players from which to choose from and the selected starting eleven was: Davies, Browning, Nsiala, Dier, Bidwell, Orenuga, Lundstram, Forshaw, Garbutt, Baxter, McAleny.

Everton took the lead just before half time when, after Norwich goalkeeper Remi Matthews had made a smart double save, midfielder John Lundstram scored from range.

In front of a crowd that included ex-Everton and current Norwich forward James Vaughan, the canaries fought hard in the second half and grabbed a deserved equaliser on 73 minutes through Richard Brindley.

Minutes later the home side won a penalty when Andrew Surman went over in the box. The same player picked himself up and took the spot-kick, but Adam Davies in the Everton goal saved the effort - just as Tim Howard had done for the senior side at Ewood Park on Saturday.

The fixture looked to be heading for a draw but Norwich stole all three points in injury time through Aaron Wilbraham and Everton left empty-handed.

Philadelphia Union U18s 0-2 Everton U18s

A brace from Chris Long (above) saw Everton's Academy side record a victory over their Philadelphia Union counterparts this evening, their second triumph of the US tour.

After beating the New York Red Bulls on Monday, Everton came up against the Union at PPL Park in a game billed as the appetiser for the later clash of the senior sides.

James Fitzgibbon was the man between the sticks, with a defence of Ben Heneghan, Eric Dier, Ryan Higgins and Ibou Touray. The midfield was Femi Orenuga, Tom Molyneux, Gethin Jones and Jasper Johns, with Adam Thomas and Chris Long starting in attack.

The game, split into three thirds to help the players cope with the 30+ degree heat, got off to a lively start, with Everton enjoying the lion's share of possession. Indeed, it was the visitors who took the lead when, on 13 minutes, forward Chris Long capitalised on a defensive error and finished clinically.

Long then doubled his and Everton's tally with another well-taken goal on 33 minutes, and the scores remained at 2-0 for the rest of the game.

NY Red Bulls U18s 1-3 Everton U18s

Everton's Academy side recorded an impressive victory over the New York Red Bulls in the first instalment of a two-game Stateside tour. The Everton goals came from Chris Long (above), Eric Dier and Jasper Johns.

The friendly match was held just outside Philadelphia, the city that Everton's senior squad had flown into hours previously. Academy graduate Chris Long gave Everton the lead after quarter of an hour, only for the hosts to draw level minutes later after a poorly-defended set-piece.

The ninety minutes were split into three thirds to allow the players to cope with searing 32 degree temperatures, and New York took control of the game in the second period.

Everton, however, did regain control of the match, with Femi Orenuga impressing on the wing and Eric Dier producing a goal-line clearance to keep the scores level.

In the third period Tom Molyneux's free kick was denied by the woodwork, before Eric Dier rose to power in a header and give the visitors the lead. Jasper Johns sealed the win with a brilliant long-range strike.

The Everton stars of tomorrow will now prepare for a game against their Philadelphia Union counterparts, which will take place before the senior sides meet on Wednesday.

Click here to read a full match report on evertonfc.com

Second Dier Loan Agreed

Centre-half Eric Dier will return to Everton on a second loan deal for the upcoming season, after terms were agreed with his parent club Sporting Lisbon.

The 17 year old defender spent the second half of last season at Everton on loan from Sporting. In his first spell on Merseyside he featured regularly for Everton's U18 side, scoring in a 4-0 victory over rivals Liverpool and helping the young Toffees to the national academy league title.

Born in Cheltenham, Dier moved to Portugal as a 7-year-old after his mother got a job working in Lisbon for the 2004 European Championships. He signed professional terms with Sporting in April 2010 amid reported interest from Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United. In January 2011 he moved to Merseyside on a short-term loan deal, with Sporting's website saying that deal was "an opportunity for the athlete to grow in a more competitive and demanding environment."

All parties have agreed new terms and Dier will begin pre-season training with Everton once all necessary paperwork has been completed.

Everton U18s defeat Fulham in Final

Everton's academy showed the first team how it's done as they were crowned the best academy side in the country at Craven Cottage on Friday night.

Their victory is made even more impressive by the fact that their opponents were Fulham, and therefore the Thames-side venue was hardly a neutral one. The young blues were also with three of their most important players: Hallam Hope and John Lundstram were on England duty, whilst Swede Johan Hammar picked up an injury 15 minutes into the semi-final victory over Aston Villa.

The side, managed by Ray Hall and coached by a team including Neil Dewsnip and Everton legend Kevin Sheedy, fell behind just after the 70th minute, but showed togetherness and true Everton spirit to overturn the deficit and return to Mersyside as champions.

From what I've read the affair wasn't the liveliest but some Everton youngsters showed promise, especially Sporting Lisbon loanee Eric Dier. He had a good game alongside Jake Bidwell in the heart of Everton's defence, although he made a slight error that might well have cost the visitors a penalty.

Various reports have also singled out Connor McAleny, who has sat on the first-team bench a few times this season, and Tom Donegan.

McAleny: star of the future?

The game kicked into life in the final 20 minutes. First Fulham took the lead when forward Ross Minkwitz fired a low shot into the corner from 12 yards on 74 minutes. The goal seemed to galvanise the young toffees who hit back, inspired by forward Adam Thomas. Thomas equalised on 81 minutes, capitalising on a poor Fulham clearance to slot home.

The scorer then turned provider, crossing for substitute George Waring to plant a header over the keeper and into the net. The goal cued wild celebrations which continued after the academy side managed to hold on and lift the U18 League Trophy.

The young toffees celebrate taking the lead

Captain fantastic: Jake Bidwell with the trophy

Congratulations to the young blues!