Last week the under-18s travelled to Coventry City and were unlucky not to come away with all three points.
Four under-16 players made the starting line-up as we fielded probably our youngest team of the season and I was very pleased with the way the lads performed in the majority of the game, particularly in the first half.
We started very brightly, putting our hosts under pressure before taking the lead in the eighth minute through Patrick Drmola.
The move started in the left-back position when Remy Gordon made a fine tackle to win possession and drove forward with the ball, he then placed a well-timed pass to Patrick which enabled him to turn and break free from his marker and found himself in a one-on-one situation with the Coventry City goalkeeper and finished the move off perfectly finding the corner of the net.
We continued to press and look the stronger team and we were given a great opportunity to extend our lead when the referee awarded us a penalty after half-an-hour.
After a good team move Sam Kelly found himself in the box and with good footwork he manipulated the ball around the defender and as he was about to shoot was clearly brought down. Captain George Francomb (pictured top-right) sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and gave us a 2-0 lead.
In the second half our young players were clearly tiring and substitutions were made. Despite the changes we continued to dominate proceedings and continued to create chances and put pressure on our hosts. Despite our domination we were unable to convert any more of our chances.
The score remained 2-0 until the final 10 minutes where two defensive lapses allowed the home side back into the match and the game finished in a 2-2 draw.
In all I was pleased with the performance of the players for the majority of the match, we played some very good attacking football and created a large number of goal scoring opportunities. Unfortunately we were guilty of making some poor defensive errors at key times in the game and once more we have conceded crucial late goals. This is something we must look to eradicate from our game if we are to achieve what we are more than capable of.
Ricky Martin
Academy Manager
