Every club wants to stay in the FA Youth Cup as long as possible, but it is particularly important for our youngster because we are denied the opportunity to play against Football League clubs in any other competition.
The qualifying rounds are a good test of our professionalism as we are playing against teams that we are expected to beat from several levels below Cambridge United in the pyramid. We duly despatched Felixstowe & Walton, Debenham LC and Bury Town without any scares to set up a tie against Colchester United in the competition proper.
Cambridge United 4 Colchester United 1
This performance would rank amongst the best in the short history of the re-born youth set-up, and to beat such a renowned scheme from a club playing in the Championship a few months earlier was a tremendous credit to our young players.
From the moment Sam Ives (below) unleashed a thunderous left footed strike into the bottom corner, we were on the front foot and ran out worthy winners. Whilst our visitors briefly drew level, Jack Bailey almost immediately won a penalty and although Adam Marriott failed to dispatch the spot kick, Jack Eades was on hand to pounce on the rebound and provide him with a second opportunity. This time he made no mistake.
Adam then stretched our lead with a 25 yard drive that arrowed into the bottom corner, somewhat reminiscent of Sam Ives' earlier goal, and added a fourth to complete his hat-trick with a penalty, this time won by John Yambasu.
'Maz' (Marriott) was absolutely outstanding on the night, also hitting the bar with a trademark free kick and tormenting the home defence throughout. There were excellent performances throughout the team, with Luke Berry and Sam Ives setting the tone by dominating in midfield, Jordan Patrick a constant threat with his pace and trickery on our left flank, and 15-year-old Jackson Ramm showing why the Directors Box was full of Premiership scouts.
Watching this talent on show brought me back to the derisory remarks made to me by a nameless but now ex-member of the Board when we joined the club in May 2006. We gave a three year timescale to produce a first team player, bearing in mind our lack of funding and the fact that every Centre of Excellence player had left the system when it closed in November 2005. He thought the new set-up was a waste of time and without FA Funding and the associated contractual safeguards, we would "never produce a player".
Those words motivate everyone connected with Cambridge United Youth Development. If you include the three lads who joined CUFC from CCFC that summer, produced from the same set-up at another club, eight graduates from this youth scheme have made their first team debuts in the last 30 months. There are several players within the current youth team who have the potential to join this list.
For those young and patient enough, the three years of players to be recruited since we re-formed the Centre of Excellence, now aged U9, U10 & U11, are full of talent and the envy of many other professional clubs. We have some innovative plans for how best to help realise the potential of these youngsters that Matt Walker, our Youth Development Officer, will elaborate on later in the season. Suffice to say though that our win last week against Colchester United by the flagship of our scheme showed the talent that is bubbling below the first team.
Cambridge United 0 Northampton Town 2
Following the high of the previous round, our FA Youth Cup run came to a disappointing end on Wednesday night in a match we could and perhaps should have won. We will have that feeling of unfinished business regarding the competition because we more than matched a League One outfit enjoying all the benefits that come from their Football League status. We really are punching above our weight at the moment and defying the odds to consistently compete with clubs at this level.
We are able to attract players released from bigger clubs despite not being able to offer them a place on the ASE scheme, which brings membership to the Football League Youth Alliance, wages of £55/week per scholar for the entire year and funding to the club for eighteen scholarship places plus financial incentives for success. If you add that to the £180,000 grant per season given to their schoolboy programme, we are competing against clubs who have a quarter of a million pounds headstart on our scheme every year, and that's before we even talk about the financial support from the club itself. The fact that Northampton changed their system to a 4-5-1 in order to nullify our strengths is a real compliment to CUYD and the quality of our scholars.
The fact that we were so disappointed to lose against a League One side also shows the standards and levels of expectation that we have set. If we continue to raise the bar, demand more and are relentless in our pursuit of improvement, it can only bring success in the long term for the players and CUFC as a whole.
The frustration that lingers after the game was that despite not being at our best and our flowing football being stifled by their system of play, we still carried the greater threat and created the only chances. If the ball had run more kindly inside their box, Sam Ives, Luke Berry, Adam Marriott, Jack Eades and Jordan Patrick might all have opened the scoring, whilst Jack Bailey shot wide after a tremendous run sent him clear of their back four.
In fairness to our visitors though, they defended like their lives depended on it and got in blocks to deny us strikes on goal. When we did get through their wall of white, the keeper showed his quality and why he represents his country at his age group. The way Northampton were set up meant the opening goal was crucial, and although our deliveries were uncharacteristically poor from set pieces, we looked the more dangerous team. The nature of the goal and the fact that it arrived just seconds before the interval was a massive blow. Mistakes are part of football but matches this tight are usually decided by who makes the fewer errors and, unfortunately for us, on Wednesday that was the visitors.
We huffed and puffed in the second half without finding the moment of quality that was required to break down such a stubborn and disciplined rearguard. Twice, Blaine Hudson (above) won headers from free kicks but once his effort bounced tamely into the keeper's hands and the other occasion brought a superb clearance on the line as three of our players threw themselves at the knockdown. Jack Bailey hit the side netting from JP's cross and despite waves of attacks, our attacking play became too anxious and frantic when cool heads were required.
Their late goal from a free kick gave the scoreline an even harsher look when we had gambled by leaving players forward. On reflection, there were many lessons to be learned but the players can take pride in how they represented the club in this season's competition. In the ties against Football League opposition, no-one in the ground would have guessed which team were the underdogs and which were the favourites. The players showed fantastic desire, work ethic, application and commitment in both matches. Sadly on Wednesday a lapse of concentration cost us dearly and we weren't quite good enough to score against a resolute team.
The guile and intelligence that are demanded by tactically astute teams is the one aspect of the scholar's football education that we miss by playing solely in the Ridgeons League and is why we enter tournaments abroad. We will also try to set up friendlies with Academies and Centre of Excellence U18 teams throughout the season, when the fixture list allows.
The FA Youth Cup is a great competition for the players and can provide great memories for them to look back on together. However, it is only a part of their journey and it is the destination that really matters. For the likes of Marriott, Ives, Patrick et al that means earning a professional football contract with Cambridge United by the end of this season and continuing their development to aim still higher. With the right attitude, the lessons learned over the last two games will be invaluable in this aim.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone at the club, including the supporters who raised the roof against Northampton, for getting behind us throughout this competition. From Brian in the Boardroom, to Wayne in the office and Will on the terraces, we all really appreciate your commitment to furthering the cause of youth development at CUFC. It also makes a massive difference to the players when the Gaffer and Cardy show they really care about the long term future of the club by watching every round and talking to the players after the game.
Jez George
[Youth Team/FA Youth Cup articles]
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