Neil Cox looks at last night's game
Assistant manager Neil Cox praised a young Wimbledon side as they staged a second half fight back, only to eventually lose out 4-3 to Ryman League Cray Wanderers in their London Senior Cup quarter-final at The Cherry Red Records Stadium last night.
A youthful looking line-up, made up mostly from Mark Robinson’s under-18 squad, took a first half lead through Tom Beere, but found themselves 2-1 down at the break as the visitors moved in front after goals from Paul Booth and Billy Burgess.
When Leigh Bremner added two more in the second half the score line started to take on a worrying appearance, but a late rally from the Dons with goals from Charlie Strutton and a second from Beere meant the youngsters came up just short in an attempt to force to a penalty shoot-out.
Neil Cox said “We’ve had a couple of days with them, trying to get them to play out from the back and I thought they tried it really well. One or two mistakes, but that’s what you expect as they are only young boys, but I thought they did really well to get back in at the end.
“It was good for the young boys because we only had Warren Cummings out there, along with Charlie Strutton and Frankie Merrifield who have played for the first team, and he encouraged them on. These are young lads coming out of youth football and I thought they did really well in the end.”
Focusing on a couple of performances, Neil added “Tom Beere started off really well and he took his goals really well, especially the last one. It was a great movement and he looks like he’s going to be a good player. He looks a good prospect for the club.”
On Youssouf Bamba, recently rewarded with a contract at the club, Neil also had words of encouragement “Youssouf’s a little bit selfish, but that's not a problem because he keeps creating. He’s young and he’s learning his trade and he looks another good player that can play each side which is good for us.”
Neil’s focus, along with the rest of the more senior first team squad members, now turns to the important Npower League Two game at the EBB Stadium this Saturday “It was a great result against Southend, but that’s gone now and we have to get focused on Aldershot. We’ve watched the DVD and we’ll be doing a bit of work on Thursday and Friday and getting ready for another good game for us.”
Dons Player subscribers can now watch the full video interview with Neil Cox.