Cambridge United's Under-18s will play their Histon counterparts in the 1st Round Proper of the FA Youth Cup after their narrow win at Rothwell Town on Wednesday evening.
As reported yesterday, it was a busy two days for the scholars as they had to play back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday; first a Ridgeon's League Cup fixture at March Town, which an older squad won 5-0, then the under-18s in the FA Youth Cup last night.
Pausing briefly to bring us up to date with the games and performances, Director of Youth Football Jez George felt they were two very different performances.
A team comprising mainly the older members of the squad, plus goalkeeper Laurie Walker and former scholar Piers Wixon, won 5-0 at March with goals by Adam Marriott, Lewis Carr, Jordan Patrick, Piers Wixon and Rory McAuley, which extended their winning sequence as CRC to twelve games.
"It was a really professional performance and we made the game exactly as we wanted it to be," said Jez. "We started on the front foot, played some good football and took a couple of early chances. Adam Marriott's finish for the first goal was superb, a left foot half-volley after Daz Coakley's through ball, and then the well-rehearsed near post flick-on for Rory McAuley and bundled in by Lewis for the second.
"We kept the decent football going for the second half and there were no major scares although Laurie made one or two late saves, and we took our goals well. JP got the third, Piers Wixon rolled back the years for the fourth with a right foot volley from 20 yards, and then Rory got his customary finish from a corner for the last one."
Adding special thanks to Wixon, who registered this week to boost the squad's options during a hectic run of fixtures, Jez added, "He's a fantastic lad; he was released from the club 18 months ago but he drove for two hours from London just to help us out for that game and wouldn't take a penny for his petrol.
"He played really well - good movement, good touch - and he looked like he'd never been away, so that was good and I think he was pleased to see some of the lads again."
He also thanked Stotfold midfielder James Peters for turning out: "He's been on trial with us on and off and he signed to help us out so we didn't have to start with any of Wednesday's starting players.
"It was a good night in terms of attitude and application," he added. "The senior players were spot on, and it was a good opportunity for first years Joe Bennett and Josh England to get 90 minutes before sitting on the bench for Wednesday's game. It was a good win, no injuries and another clean sheet, so it's all pleasing."
Team:
Laurie Walker, Rory McAuley, Darryl Coakley, Lewis Carr, Josh England; James Peters, Sam Ives, Joe Bennett, Jordan Patrick; Piers Wixon, Adam Marriott.
Moving on to last night's 1-0 win at Northamptonshire side Rothwell Town, when the under-18 scholars represented Cambridge United in the FA Youth Cup, the match was more of a battle and went right down to the final whistle.
"We made hard work of the game last night," admitted Jez. "The conditions weren't ideal - it was a sloping pitch and not the best surface - but we could have been three or four goals up in the first 20 minutes. We had a number of set plays and managed to miss three or four gilt-edged chances inside the six-yard box, and the longer the game goes on with you missing chances, the more the anxiety level rises.
"Rothwell had a bit to offer going forward as a team but they were quite poor defensively and we didn't show enough intelligence or quality in the final third to make our territorial advantage and loads of possession count.
"It was a rare moment of composure for our goal and Jack Eades (above) took it really well after 35 minutes. He cut inside from the right, beat a player and buried it in the bottom corner with his left foot, which is his 'wrong' foot, and it was a really composed finish, which was out of character from the rest of our play in the final third. I was disappointed with our intelligence, our quality and our decision making."
Moving on to the second half and a nervous finish, Jez continued, "We went up the slope in the second half and our play was much the same; we had enough chances in the first 20 minutes to have killed the game but we missed them, and the longer it goes on at 1-0 you know they will take more risks and they'll get a chance.
"The game became really stop-start for the last 20 minutes with their players getting cramp and the referee wanted to give chapter and verse every time there was a foul. They had a chance about ten minutes from the end with a long ball over the top, our keeper came out and they hit the bar, which was a little warning.
"Then in the 93rd minute there was a long ball into the box from a free kick on the halfway line, a flicked header, our goalie dropped it and there was an almighty scramble that we somehow managed to survive - I don't know how the lad sliced it wide from inside the six-yard box - so it was a relief to hear the full-time whistle.
"The last 20 minutes was horrible to watch and we were disappointed in the performance overall. Blaine Hudson did very well, Alex Bevan and Jack Eades had their moments, and Liam Hughes came on for 45 minutes in his first game back from injury and did well, but that apart we were below par and made it into a really difficult game."
With a trip to neighbours Histon in the next round, Jez added, "We know we'll have to improve on that in the next round, and we'll look forward to the difficulties of trying to find a date in that week with all the commitments we've already got."
Team:
David Cain, Rogan McGeorge, James Brighton, Blaine Hudson, Alex Bevan; Luke Allen (Liam Hughes 46'), Jack Eades, Luke Berry, Owen Kessack (Jordan Johnson 70'); Jack Bailey, Jonathan Thorpe.
"Against All Odds"
With the scholars competing on several fronts as CRC in the Ridgeon's League, FA Vase, Ridgeon's League Cup and Cambs Invitation Cup, and as Cambridge United in the FA Youth Cup, there is no let up in the fixture schedule, which Jez explained is a results of the circumstances that prevent the scholars competing on level terms with their counterparts at other clubs while the club tries to create the best possible environment for developing young players.
"Sometimes it feels as though the whole world is against us because we don't get the F.A. funding, we're deemed to be not part of anything by the Football League, so we come up with a way of helping to develop young players by playing in a senior league but CRC has to be a separate entity from Cambridge United.
"Then we get clubs looking to throw us out of the FA Youth Cup because they say that Cambridge United don't have a youth team in a youth league, so we had to address that by linking up with the college in London (article).
"Then we have huge problems with fixture clashes because CRC is deemed to be a separate club to Cambridge United's youth team - even though we make no bones about the fact that it really is our youth team playing in a competitive league - because clubs are perhaps beginning to resent our results or what we're doing.
"I don't understand it because all we're trying to do is give young players an opportunity to develop, but sometimes it feels like we're doing it against all the odds. We've got some second years who are flying, some really exciting first years, and it's not as though we're acting as Cambridge United reserves and including Lee Phillips and Ben Farrell and Andy Parkinson in mid-week games.
"We're only looking to develop young talent and it's frustrating that things always seem to conspire against us."
Jez concluded, "We seem to fall between two stools in everything we do and it feels sometimes as though everything is conspiring against us. But I don't want to sound like we're whinging because we know the score and until Cambridge United get promoted back to the Football League, or until the rules about F.A. funding for Conference clubs are changed, we're going to have to live with it and get on with it."
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