Cambridge United U18s Coach Jimmy Unwin says he’s relieved to have seen the U’s progress past AFC Sudbury with a professional display in the opening round of the FA Youth Cup.
Second half goals from Ben Worman and Sam Bennett ensured the U’s pathway into the second round of the competition, as they prevailed 2-1 at the Abbey Stadium.
Unwin commented: “We are relieved to have got through and we knew that AFC Sudbury were going to be a good test for us. We had watched them play before and knew that their system might hurt us in certain spells.
“However, I thought we got our system right and we were able to hurt them in the number ten area to get plenty of shots on goal.
“We spoke at half time about getting the ball a little further forward, via our front two and getting Ben Worman on the ball more often.
“The boys were professional when they needed to be and scored good goals at good times.”
The U’s coach was delighted to see United’s young guns control the fixture for long periods, but feels there is still plenty to learn from having conceded a late penalty in the closing stages.
“We controlled the game really well for the majority of the match, and with it being a cup game you can always expect the opposition to create a chance or two.
“Unfortunately we did give away a silly penalty and we need to learn from that and be more professional from set pieces.
“Having said that when we needed the goalkeeper, Craig (Foxall) was excellent throughout the night. He made a great save moments before the boys broke away and scored the first goal, so that’s as good as an assist in that particular instance.”
United now face a long trip to Yeovil Town in the next round and Unwin provided his initial thoughts on the clash.
He said: “I actually came up against Yeovil last year whilst I was with Leyton Orient and they are a very good outfit who play good football.
“They will certainly give us a good test, they have a strong influx of London based players mixed in with the Somerset based boys that they have there.
“It will be a long journey which is another new experience for our boys to deal with. Getting that chance to prepare for a game slightly differently where as we usually travel to places within one to two hours of us.”