Captain Archie Procter feels Wimbledon are well-equipped to go on another historic FA Youth Cup run, after last night’s well executed victory at Hanworth Villa.
“Mentally we can go up against anyone,” said Archie. “We’ll give anyone a test. I back our boys and we all back each other.”
Archie was speaking after the young Dons avoided a cup upset at non-league Hanworth Villa with a 5-1 victory at a frosty Rectory Meadow. That set up a mouth-watering tie at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United in round three of the prestigious competition.
“All of us throughout the week knew what we had to do,” said Archie. “We did our homework. A lot of teams against opposition like these wouldn’t and would come unstuck, but we knew what we had to do. I thought that first-half we were all outstanding.
“Dyls (Dylan Adjei Hersey) did a great job as a striker, as he’s not usually a striker. Everyone had their own individual performances and I thought we executed it really well. Second-half was tough, but we showed our togetherness and we did well to go through.”
Victory last night took the young Dons goal scoring tally in the Cup for this season to ten goals. Isaac Olaniyan converted a penalty early on, before Huseyin Biler and KJ Osu gave Wimbledon a comfortable three-goal advantage at the break.
Striker David Fisher (pictured) effectively killed-off the tie in the second period to make it 4-1, before Adjei Hersey deservedly got in on the act by notching the fifth. Victory was achieved without defender Jack Madelin and forward Zach Robinson, who were called up for first team duty tonight at Doncaster.
Midfielder Ayoub Assal also missed out through suspension and he may have to battle to get back in the side, according to Under-18s manager Rob Tuvey.
“I thought Isaac was superb,” said Rob. “It’s a tough job to replace Ayoub in the side, but I thought Ayoub will be sweating now because of how Isaac performed! He broke lines and did everything we asked of him.
“We practiced penalties and there were a few raised eyebrows when I named Isaac as the penalty-taker! I’ve watched him do that though since the Under-15s, so I backed him all the way.”
Pic credit: Andy Nunn.
You can see the full interview with victorious Manager Rob Tuvey and captain Archie Procter, after the hard-earned victory at Hanworth Villa, via the link below to our official YouTube channel.