Cambridge United's will play Tranmere Rovers' youth team in the second round of the FA Youth Cup after their 4-0 win at Histon last night.

All four goals were scored in the first half; defender Blaine Hudson got the game off to the perfect start with a headed goal in the second minute, and Luke Berry, Jack Eades (aided by the Histon keeper) and Jack Bailey completed the scoring before half-time.

"It was a dominant first half; we'd stressed the importance of starting well and getting on top of them and we played at a good tempo in the first half," commented Director of Youth Football Jez George.

"We moved the ball really well, created lots of chances and we could have scored more than the four goals - Jack Bailey missed two gilt-edged chances earlier on but then put the most difficult one away. I think we just had too much for Histon in the first half in terms of pace, strength and movement.

"The first goal was a corner that they half-cleared and Blaine powered in from close range with a header. The second was a Jack Eades corner that Luke Berry just got to in front of the goalkeeper, and at that stage we looked like scoring from every corner because they didn't handle our deliveries or movement and we're quite dangerous from those.

"The third was a long cross-shot from Jack Eades that the goalkeeper managed to spill into his own goal, so it was a bit of a soft goal but it was on target and I think Jack is more keen to claim it than the keeper so we'll give him that. He whipped in a few good balls during the evening and a couple of decent strikes too.

"And the fourth one was a ball down the side of their centre-half and Jack Bailey came inside from the edge of the box and curled it into the top corner off the inside of the post. It was a great goal, but he'd missed two from inside the six-yard box before that and we'd had several other chances too so it really was a dominant first half performance."

But he admitted to being disappointed with the second half: "Histon obviously had words at half-time and, credit to them, they came out to play for some pride and they really worked hard. We needed to hold the ball a bit better and keep it away from them and control the game, and at 4-0 you should be able to do it, but we got caught up in the helter-skelter nature of the game and it became a bit scrappy.

"We defended well but we expected a bit more control and composure in possession of the ball. But overall it was a good night's work and in the first half we showed a glimpse of the potential first team players in the team. You want to go to your local rivals and win, and it was great to see so many people there from Cambridge to support us and we're grateful for that."

There was a new face in goal, with Tom Lovelock arriving on work experience to help the team in the FA Youth Cup fixtures. He is a first year scholar at Leyton Orient, where they have two other youth keepers so the arrangement is mutually beneficial, with Tom playing some games and filling a gap in our current youth team squad.

Jez was also happy to confirm that Chris Tonks, who came on 20 minutes from the end but then had to be substituted after a clash of heads near the end, was checked at hospital after the game and did not suffer a fracture.

Team:
Tom Lovelock, Jonathan Thorpe, James Brighton, Blaine Hudson, Alex Bevan, Luke Allen (Chris Tonks 70', Rogan McGeorge 89'), Jack Eades, Luke Berry, Jack Bailey, Liam Hughes, Joe Bennett (Jordan Johnson 65').

The second round tie at Tranmere Rovers is scheduled to take place in the week commencing 16th November and the date will be confirmed in the next few days. The club is considering the hire of a coach for supporters to attend the match at Prenton Park; if you feel you would be interested please register your initial interest on the message board here.

Jez is looking forward to the tie: "We've built some good links with Tranmere after we played them here three years ago. Kenny Shields, their Centre of Excellence manager, is a diamond and we take our youngsters there every Easter to play at Under-8s, 9s, 10s and 11s.

"It will be a really tough game and a big test for us away from home. They're always a big, strong team and they're in a good area to pick up players, but you enter this competition to test yourselves against Football League clubs and this is the type of test and occasion our players need."

The older scholars and a few of the lads who were in action last night will play tonight at Mildenhall Town in Ridgeon's League action as CRC, and Jez again expressed his gratitude for them agreeing to put the fixture back by 24 hours to avoid a direct clash with the FA Youth Cup tie.

"A big thank you to Simon Charlton, Martin Tuck and Brian Hensby and Mildenhall," he said. "They agreed to put the game back for us, which they didn't need to do, and we're really grateful to them for that. It's nice that a local club wants to help us, which isn't always the case, so credit to Mildenhall for that.

"Some of the lads from last night will have to play again tonight so we've tried to do everything right with their recovery last night and today. Hopefully they've got a bit left in the tank for tonight and the older lads can take some responsibility with their fresh legs and step up to the plate."

[CRC Fixtures & Results] [FA Youth Cup Fixtures & Results]

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