John McDermott highlighted the hard work of several defensive players in the wake of Sunday’s Barclays Under-18 Premier League play-off semi-final defeat at Everton.
A second half goal from Michael Donohue won it for the Toffees at Goodison Park, as we were left to rue a hatful of missed chances.
Academy Manager John, while naturally disappointed with the 1-0 defeat, praised the centre-half pairing of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Christian Maghoma for the way they stood their ground for large parts of the contest.
“It’s a tough one to take because we played really well,” John reflected. “We weren’t able to capitalise on the many chances that we made and they needed fewer chances to score their goal.
“Saying that, I thought Cameron Carter-Vickers and Christian Maghoma were outstanding in a big game like that and I was really pleased with them.
“I was also very pleased with Filip Lesniak, who I thought was outstanding in front of them, and Kyle Walker-Peters also stood out.”
The result brought the curtain down on a largely successful domestic season for our Under-18s, who won the league’s southern section by six points.
The lads have drawn praise from far and wide for their performances over the course of the campaign – and it was the same story after Sunday’s defeat.
“Alan Irvine at Everton is a fantastic Academy Manager and when he pays us a compliment at the end like he did, it means quite a lot,” John added.
“I thought the compliment he paid us was well deserved. Hopefully we’ve seen more future Premier League players on display in both white and blue today.
“I don’t think we could have done much more in terms of creating chances but it’s bitterly disappointing that we haven’t been able to convert at least one.”