Big win for Under-18s at Swansea

Our Under-18s made it back-to-back 4-0 wins after sweeping past Swansea City in south Wales on Saturday morning.

All the goals came in the second half as Chay Cooper – on target in style in last weekend’s home victory over Norwich – got us off the mark with another fine strike before Kion Etete added a second from the penalty spot. Swansea defender Panashe Makokowe inadvertently put through his own net as we went up through the gears, with Enock Asante opening his Under-18 Premier League account a minute from time.

We controlled the possession in the first half at Landore but couldn’t turn that into goals. Kacper Kurylowicz, restored between the sticks as one of two changes made to the starting XI by Under-18s Coach Matt Taylor, made a good stop at his near post from Swans’ striker Ali Al-Hamadi shortly before the half-hour mark while our centre-forward Etete – the other player back in the team – connected with Cooper’s cross with a header, but it was fairly routine for home goalkeeper Lewis Webb to save.

The opener arrived two minutes after half-time as Etete played a square ball across the box for Cooper to take a touch and finish into the top corner from 18 yards. Within 10 minutes, it was two as Tarrelle Whittaker was fouled in the box in the aftermath of a corner and Etete fired home the resulting penalty.

It was 3-0 in the 70th minute after some good combination play between Kallum Cesay and Cooper on the right wing. It ended with Cesay delivering a cross into a dangerous area which caused confusion among the Swansea defence, with Makokowe’s header creeping past Webb and into his own net. The scoring was completed in the 89th minute as Cooper pulled the ball back to Marqes Muir, whose delivery from the right found fellow substitute Asante and he converted from just outside the six-yard box.

Key moment

After a goalless first half, it was important to begin the second period with some fresh impetus. Cooper duly gave us some of that with a good finish just two minutes after the restart but when Whittaker won a penalty on the second phase of play from a corner, Etete blasted in for 2-0 to put us in firm command.

“The first goal was an excellent finish from Chay Cooper and within a few minutes we had a penalty, Kion put the penalty away extremely well and that just seemed to revitalise us and remove all of the energy from the opposition,” said Under-18s Coach Matt Taylor. “From that point on, we were dominant in and out of possession.”

Coach’s view

Taylor applauded his troops for putting their instructions into action: “In the first half we were dominant in possession but ultimately couldn’t make that count,” he explained. “We had a good discussion at half-time, the boys took on board what we asked of them and although the second half didn’t start particularly well, we got the first goal, but what was really pleasing was I believe we ended up wearing the opposition down and we earned the right to play. That was really important today, the shape was good and we most definitely deserved to win.

“We scored some high-quality goals and we managed the tempo at the right times while we were in possession which I really enjoyed watching. We managed to go from slow to fast at the right times and it really caused the opposition some issues. It’s another good win and that’s positive, but it’s still early days. From a coaching point of view, the players are really starting to understand now what we’re asking of them. We challenged the boys to go and back up last week’s performance and they’ve answered that with another positive display and a win, so now it’s a case of building momentum. They’re the conversations we’ve had – how can we build momentum? Winning becomes a mentality and a habit, as does losing, so now it’s about us developing as individuals and as a team and becoming more consistent in our work.”