The old gold were on course to collect a valuable point and clean sheet until Oakley Cannonier struck with six minutes left on the clock. However, the head coach was pleased with the efforts from his side and is confident of remaining in the top flight of youth football, but only if the players continue to show spirit and composure in the key moments.
On the 90 minutes
“I thought it was a proper game and very much like a league game. There was some competing, balls up to the front, second balls and with some good quality from both teams as well.
“I thought they edged it in the first half a little bit and had the better chances, although we had our moments. Second half, we really snuffled them out and had the best chances.
“It’s frustrating to concede a sloppy, scrappy goal at the end. Even after that, we had some moments where we might’ve just got something back.
“It’s frustrating to lose the game, but I’m pleased that we’ve gone toe-to-toe with Liverpool and probably deserved to get something.”
On the fine lines
“The wingers were causing problems to the full backs but, in the main, we defended well.
“We limited their chances. They had the one that skimmed the post in the first half that might’ve gone the other way for them.
“In the second half, Owen Farmer’s had a couple of one-on-ones that aren’t easy, but he’s a good finisher and on a different day he puts them away and we get the win.
“That’s the fine lines of football. At academy level you get 5-3s and 6-4s. At first-team level, a lot of games are decided by one goal.
“At the end of the season no one really cares how you got that win – you’ve got to find a way of coming out on the right side of those results in your career. If you do that more often than not, you’ll be in successful teams.”
On fighting to stay in the league
“It’s easy to think that we should be in this league. In the club’s academy history, we haven’t spent a lot of time in this league and when we have we’ve struggled.
“This group of players are showing that we’ve got a fair chance of staying in this league, but it’s not going to be easy.
“We’ve got Arsenal next and all the games are difficult – Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal. These are top academies that spend millions of pounds.
“We want to be in this league because it’s the highest level of youth football. I don’t see us winning 10 on the trot and flying up to the top of the league but I do see us, if we do show spirit like that and composure in the right moments, giving ourselves a fair chance of being in the division which, in our first year back, would be a good achievement.”
