Reuban shows promise
AFC Wimbledon under-16s suffered their first league defeat of the season at the hands of Leyton Orient on Saturday.
Despite twice fighting back from being 1-0 and 2-1 down, goals from Kieran Rhule and Antonio Walker weren't enough to stop the O’s deservedly gaining a 4-2 victory.
With James Parker, Judah Chapman and Reece Bowers Williams stepping up to play for the u18s and an injury ruling out the in-form Ronan Halpin, there was a chance for 13 year old Reuban Collins to step up from the under-14s plus an opportunity for a few others to step up and gain valuable match time.
Michael Hamilton, under-16s coach, said "It was a frustrating game as although we showed flickers of our ability, we never really got going and full credit to Orient as they were the better team. There are fundamentals that need to happen to give you a platform to build on, but we made too many basic errors and it cost us all over the pitch. Orient found it too easy to open us up and when we did have the ball we didn't do enough to keep it. As a group we have taken responsibility for the below standard performance and there's a few bits we need to hone in on at training.”
The fact that we had boys not available isn't an excuse. Today was a great opportunity for one or two others to step and show their quality. I want to say well done to Reece, James and Judah and use them as an example to others that opportunities are there to be earned - so grab them,” he added.
“Congratulations to Reuban Collins who as a 13 year old put in a very exciting performance."
On Tuesday night, the under-16s ran out 3-2 winners against an impressive M&M football academy team. Goals from Ashan Sheppard, Jayden Antwi and trialist Charlie Tagg secured the victory.
"This was a very positive display against an up and coming academy in M&M. M&M recently drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town, so they are a very good standard and they made us work for the win. I'm very pleased with the performance and thought we were deserved victors," concluded Hamilton.
The under-16s next league game is against Barnet this weekend.