Professional Development Phase Coach Ben King felt the recent behind closed doors match involving the first team and the Under 18s was really beneficial for the academy players.
The in-house game gave first team players the chance to get match minutes in a competitive environment and proved to be a useful exercise for all involved.
King believes his players will have learnt a lot from the first team players during that game.
“It’s a fantastic experience,” he said.
“It’s good for first years and second years to get an opportunity because it was mixed as well which meant they could pick up a lot from the first team players.
“One of the big things we’ve been talking about is communication and you don’t quite see it at 18s football compared to men’s football.
“In men’s football, there’s a lot of talking and a lot of organising. You’ve got centre halves who control the back line and speak to centre midfielders in front but at 18s, you don’t quite get that so it’s fantastic for them to be in and around some of the first team players and also to see that as well.
“I was talking to one of the strikers about first time finishing and we like to take a lot of touches at the wrong times, especially in the final third and you see the goals that are scored and chances that are created from first team players with one touch and it’s good because it shows ‘this is what you need to do.’
“On top of that, having all the first team staff there and first team players there to see what the 18s are like, who’s performing well and who’s got potential is good for everyone so it’s a win-win.”
The Under 18s suffered a frustrating 5-1 defeat to Morecambe last weekend although the result didn’t quite tell the full story.
Ronan Maher scored his second goal in as many games for the Under 18s and King has been pleased that he has replicated his goalscoring form from last season since linking back up with the Under 18s but he’s keen to see him improve and make even more progress.
“He’s scored again in this game, that’s what he was like last year as well, he was always scoring goals so it’s good that he’s got another one in this game,” King commented.
“There are always things he’s going to need to work on, he needs to take less touches in the first half and he started to do that second half and did a lot better but that’s part of his individual learning plan, regardless of 18s and first team, I’ve worked with him since Under 13s, it’s something he always has to keep working on but it’s good for him to be playing.
“It was a frustrating game because on paper and when you look at the quality of performance, it was quite an even game – it’s just the quality in our box and their box which was the big difference.
“I think we even played the better football at times. The first half we went 2-0 down to two sloppy and soft goals. We’ve had chances, one that’s hit the crossbar, whether it’s bounced in or not I don’t know, but we’ve had chances and haven’t taken them which was the defining factor of the game.”