Simon Clark felt we weren’t far away from staging a cup upset against Leeds, but we didn’t quite make the most of our opportunities on the night.
Our Under-18s coach and centre-back Leo Young spoke after we took the visitors to extra-time in the FA Youth Cup, having taken a first half lead through Morgan Williams, but ultimately, we went out 3-1 under the lights at Plough Lane.
“We didn’t make their keeper save enough,” said Simon. “We didn’t get those final actions, those special moments.
“I said to them afterwards, you can’t fault the effort from us, but if this is their careers this is a twice weekly thing and they’ve got to understand what it takes to win football matches. That can be with or without the ball.”
“I thought we pressed and pinched. I thought we defended in the 90 minutes reasonably well. We just got caught for their second goal, the winning goal, down the right hand side where we haven’t got cover balance on that vertical pass on the inside. Even with that though, they haven’t scored first phase, they’ve scored second phase.
“I take that back to us when we’ve got in those great areas. I’m not talking about luck or anything like that, but the ball hasn’t dropped to us. Is that because we didn’t read the situation or are two yards off? We’ll have a look at it.
“Some of our play to get up the pitch to get into those creative areas has been tremendous, it’s just the final bit – throwing your body on the line in those final areas and making the keeper save.”
Tall defender Leo was keen to give everything for the cause on the night, having been with our Academy from a very young age.
“Even after the two goals went in after the start of extra-time, we dug deep and created more and more chances,” said Leo. “I think it really showed a proper Wimbledon side and even when we went one or two goals behind it didn’t affect us.
“We just kept on going. As a team we said to each other to do the most you can do. I think we’re all proud of the lads.”
“I remember when I was eight years old as an academy prospect and watching the under-18s playing back at Kingsmeadow in the FA Youth Cup. It shows how all of the lads around me and myself as an individual have worked our way up.
“It’s brilliant playing in front of the fans. It’s what everyone wants as a footballer. It’s also about the pressure as well – you’ve got thousands of people watching you, you’ve got away fans chanting at you. I think it’s good to have that pressure, because without it you’re not going to perform that well.”
You can see the full post-match assessment and what comes next for our under-18s below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.