Under-18s victorious in quarter-final at Bristol City

A dominant, professional display saw our youngsters advance to the semi-finals of the Under-18 Premier League Cup with a 3-0 win at Bristol City on Thursday night.

George Feeney’s early opener was added to by Reiss Elliott-Parris after a series of blocked shots in the box just beyond the half-hour mark, before Oliver Boast’s 10th Under-18s goal of the season at the start of the second period killed off the hosts’ challenge at the Robins High Performance Centre.

Bristol City weren’t without their chances, but we kept control in what was a physical battle at times and could have won by more than three in the end as we marched on into the last four.

Ronny Moncur’s corner kicks caused problems for the hosts and their goalkeeper Freddie Godden throughout the first half, while Elijah Upson went close with an early header before Feeney got us off the mark with 18 minutes played. Tyler Tingey’s throw-in from the right flank wasn’t dealt with, Feeney was alive to the situation to pinch the ball from City's defence and he worked himself into a shooting position in the box before sliding home.

We doubled our lead on 31 minutes after a sustained attack, Moncur’s shot from Miracle Adewole’s cut-back saved by Godden and Boast’s effort on the follow-up blocked on the line by defender Pawel Kalkowski before Elliott-Parris drilled home the loose ball.

Adewole shot just beyond the far post from distance while Bristol City reminded us of their threats with Kalkowski and Luke Skinner firing off-target either side of the interval, but just over a minute into the second period we found a crucial third goal, Feeney winning the ball mid-way inside Bristol City’s half and sending Boast running into space in the right channel, the latter duly lashing into the net from the angle.

Boast could have scored again after pouncing on a mistake in defence a few moments later but he delayed his shot and saw his eventual effort charged down by Derrick Ababio. Elliott-Parris, Tingey, Moncur, Boast and substitute Armend Muslika all later went close to extending our lead, although goalkeeper Dylan Thompson was needed to make a stunning low save down to his right from Illan Wood in the last couple of minutes to preserve our clean sheet. That stop ensured we haven’t conceded a goal at this level since the FA Youth Cup defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 16 December.

‘A different kind of game’

Under-18s Coach Jamie Carr was impressed with the way the players stood up to the physical elements of the contest, telling us at full-time: “The most pleasing part of the performance was the application we showed towards a different kind of game to what we tend to come up against week-to-week. We were up against a team that played slightly differently to a normal match in our games programme and the boys adapted really well in terms of being competitive in aerial duels and defending long balls, so from a learning point of view I thought it was a really good game because we don’t often get the opportunity to test the boys in that aspect. It’s pleasing that we managed to do well.”

Jamie went on to highlight how all the players in the squad played a part on the night, including Tye Hall and Malachi Hardy, who were on the bench for the first team against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany less than 24 hours earlier: “It was top professionalism from those lads considering the lead-in to the game and it was pleasing that they managed to get through it,” he said. “I’m really happy with them and then all the subs made a contribution as well, which was really important and helped us get through the game towards the end. We’re a little bit stretched in the Professional Development Phase this week with an Under-21s game tomorrow night, so everyone was needed and everyone contributed.”