Braiden Graham Stars Despite Everton U21's 6-3 EFL Trophy Loss to Stockport

Everton Under-21s were dragged through the full emotional wringer at Edgeley Park – three down, then level, then blown away – as Stockport County’s senior muscle finally told in a chaotic 6-3 EFL Trophy opener.

On a night that should belong to Malik Mothersille’s hat-trick, it was a teenager in royal blue, Braiden Graham, who stole most of the footballing admiration. He walked off with a 9/10 and three goal contributions. His team walked off with nothing.

Senior muscle, ruthless start

Jimmy McNulty ripped up his Stockport XI from the weekend, making 11 changes from the side that beat Plymouth Argyle in League One. It didn’t weaken them enough. His rotated line-up still had too much power, nous and punishment for David Hughes’ young Everton side.

The tone was set on 11 minutes. Everton’s back line froze, waiting for an offside flag that never came. Callum Camps didn’t. He slid a simple pass through to Mothersille, the Croydon-born Jamaica international who once trialled with Everton’s U21s and left without a contract. He took his revenge here.

George Pickford got a hand to the shot but not enough. The ball crept over the line and the hosts were in front. Everton were warned. They didn’t react.

Stockport dominated the half. They pressed high, forced mistakes, and pinned Everton’s full-backs deep. The young Blues tried to play out, tried to stick to their principles. It cost them.

Just before the break, captain William Tamen was robbed in a dangerous area. Camps was gifted the simplest of finishes to make it 2-0. Everton looked rattled. Then came the real gut punch.

With the final action of the half, Jason Adigun nutmegged Tamen, strolled into space and squared for Mika Mandron, who did the rest. Three down at the interval, Everton’s back line in pieces, and Edgeley Park sensing a rout.

Graham drags Everton back from the brink

Whatever Hughes said at half-time worked. Everton came out after the restart with a different edge, and at the heart of it was Graham.

Operating from the right, the Northern Ireland youngster started to dictate. On 51 minutes, he whipped in a clever cross that picked out Joel Catesby. The finish was calm, clinical, and carried extra weight.

Catesby, Birkenhead-born, had broken his leg in this very competition at Bradford last October. Here, in the same tournament, he was back on the scoresheet. A small, powerful moment inside a mad game.

The momentum flipped. Three minutes later, Melvin Matos drove into the box and was chopped down by Owen Moxon. No hesitation from the referee. Graham grabbed the ball, took responsibility and sent Lucas Ashby-Hammond the wrong way, rolling his penalty to the keeper’s right.

From 3-0 to 3-2 in four minutes. Stockport rocked. Everton alive.

The visitors kept pushing. Matos, head bandaged after an early clash that left his original shirt blood-stained, kept throwing himself into duels. Harvey Foster and Harry Brookes, overrun earlier, began to get a foothold. Jack Patterson’s introduction on 57 minutes added legs in midfield.

And then, the moment that should have changed everything.

On 77 minutes, Graham collected the ball on the edge of the box. One touch to set, one to curl. The strike arced beautifully beyond Ashby-Hammond and into the far corner. A winger’s goal, full of confidence and technique. Everton were level at 3-3. From nowhere.

The away bench erupted. The comeback was complete. Or so it seemed.

Everton’s resolve crumbles, Mothersille takes over

The parity lasted barely a minute.

Stockport went straight back on the front foot and punished Everton’s inexperience again. A ball flashed across the face of goal found substitute Tayo Edun at the back post and he drilled it home. 4-3. The home crowd roared, and Everton’s young defenders looked stunned.

They didn’t have time to settle. Another 60 seconds, another blow.

Mothersille, sharp all evening, found space and finished low and composed to restore a two-goal cushion. His second of the night, Everton’s resistance broken. From 3-3 to 5-3 in two brutal minutes.

Hughes turned to his bench again. Justin Clarke had already come on and created a decent opening for Ceiran Loney, who couldn’t quite adjust his feet to find the angle. Aled Thomas, Omari Benjamin and Jonathan Nsangou were all thrown into the fray on 83 minutes, but the pattern was set.

Deep into stoppage time, Mothersille completed his hat-trick with another neat finish to seal a 6-3 win and underline why he remains so highly rated. For Everton, the late goal twisted the knife on what had been, for 15 second-half minutes, a stirring fightback.

Player ratings

• George Pickford – 5
  Produced good stops from Adigun and Mandron, but on a night he conceded six, the first goal will haunt him. Got a hand to Mothersille’s opener without keeping it out and saw one of his clearances cannon off Mandron.
• George Finney – 5
  Pinned back and stretched. The teenager, who has had a loan spell at Ayr United, showed his inexperience at times. Plenty of effort, but he isn’t the answer to Everton’s senior right-back problems and shouldn’t be treated as such.
• William Tamen – 4
  A rough night for the captain. Helped Tranmere Rovers stay in the EFL last season, but here he was dispossessed for County’s second, nutmegged by Adigun for the third, and had already gifted possession to Ryan Rydel earlier. One to file under “lessons learned.”
• Luis Gardner – 5
  Part of a centre-back pairing that never really settled in the first half. No glaring individual error like Tamen’s, but looked uncertain and sprayed one ambitious diagonal pass miles off target.
• Joshua Van Schoor – 5
  Forced back for long spells and rarely able to break forward as he has in recent games. Booked for a challenge on Mothersille that had home fans baying for a red.
• Harvey Foster – 5
  A comedown from scoring for the first team in pre-season at Dundee. Worked hard but often left chasing shadows as Stockport’s midfield rotated around him.
• Harry Brookes – 5
  Swamped before the break as Everton were overrun centrally. Stayed on long enough to be part of the early second-half revival before making way just before the hour.
• Braiden Graham – 9
  Outstanding. Switched to the right and lit up the game. Created Catesby’s goal with a precise cross, buried his penalty with authority, then curled in a superb equaliser from the edge of the area. Everton’s standout by a distance.
• Melvin Matos – 7
  Involved from the first whistle. Took a nasty head knock, returned with a bandage and a blank shirt, and never hid. Threw himself into challenges, went down under Lewis Fiorini’s tackle, and crucially won the penalty after Moxon’s foul.
• Joel Catesby – 8
  A special moment. After that horrific leg break in this competition last year, he marked his return with a composed finish from Graham’s cross. Movement was sharp, touch assured.
• Ceiran Loney – 5
  Worked the channels but lacked conviction at key moments. Went one-on-one with Ashby-Hammond but hesitated and saw the keeper clear. Later couldn’t adjust his body shape to make the most of Clarke’s cut-back.

Substitutes

• Jack Patterson (on 57 for Harry Brookes) – 6
  Injected energy and bite into midfield, helping Everton sustain their second-half surge.
• Justin Clarke (on 70 for Joel Catesby) – 7
  Bright cameo. Created a big chance for Loney and looked eager to drive at Stockport’s back line.
• Aled Thomas (on 83 for Luis Gardner)
  Introduced late, just before County’s fifth. No time to influence the contest.
• Omari Benjamin (on 83 for Melvin Matos)
  Another late arrival with limited opportunity to change the flow.
• Jonathan Nsangou (on 83 for Ceiran Loney)
  Came on as Everton chased the game but the damage was already done.

Everton’s youngsters leave Edgeley Park with bruises, three goals, and a brutal reminder of the gap to hardened senior opposition. The question now is simple: can they carry the spark of Graham’s performance into the rest of this EFL Trophy campaign, without repeating the same defensive collapse?