Academy Coach Byron Anthony gives his thoughts on the FA Youth Cup 2nd round defeat to Southend United...
The County youngsters took Southend United's academy all the way to extra-time, before conceding a penalty in the 102nd minute, to exit the FA Youth Cup.
After the game Academy coach, Byron Anthony, told the Club's website that the lads were a credit to the football Club, for the way they battled during the game.
"Obviously we are disappointed. I thought the lads did really well on the night and stuck to the game plan." said Anthony.
"We watched how Southend set up for the last couple of games and they tend to score a bundle of goals and they normally manage to pass the ball throughout the pitch and dominate games. I think we held them for large parts of the game."
"Connah Hughes was fantastic this evening, his work ethic and his hold up play were superb. We didn't think we were going to score as early as we did, but we knew if we could get out and set a high tempo, we could create opportunities. Connah's goal was a great finish and it allowed us to get off on the right foot."
He added, "Goalkeeper Rhys Davies has a big future at the football Club. He is a young lad, still only fifteen years of age and he has made some great saves this evening. He is obviously upset after conceding the penalty, but he will learn from this experience and so will the rest of the lads."
"The boys were on out on their feet at the end, after putting a massive shift in. Overall it was a fantastic performance."
"We had a good chat with the lads in the dressing room after the game and we told them that they should be proud of themselves, they did the Club proud this evening, with a performance worthy of wearing a Newport County shirt."
"The boys will learn from this now and we will look to carry on our good form in the Football League Youth Alliance and hopefully go the distance in the FAW Youth Cup."
Head over to our YouTube channel to see the highlights of the game.