Bunn & Carss take squad to Loftus Road on 15 May
Town’s Under-18 side has the chance to become the first Professional Development League 2 Play-Off winners on Wednesday 15 May when they travel to Loftus Road for the divisional final against Queens Park Rangers.
After finishing second in the Under-18 Professional Development League 2 North table this season, the young Terriers recorded a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory in their semi-final against Southern League Champions Charlton Athletic at their Sparrows Lane training ground on Saturday.
That result has setup a final against QPR, who finished second in the southern league and defeated Northern League Champions Leeds United 1-0 in the other semi-final.
The final will now kick-off at Loftus Road at 7pm next Wednesday and Professional Development Coach Tony Carss is targeting a winning end to the season:
“The players’ work ethic, discipline and attitude have been unbelievable.
“We had to work hard at those things during the early stages of the season to get it to how myself, Frankie (Bunn) and Mark (Lillis) wanted it. Everyone has bought into it and it has helped us massively.
“The players have all developed over the course of the season and some of them have been fantastic.”
Looking back on Saturday’s thrilling victory, Tony said: “Charlton are a very good side and the first 60 minutes, when it was 11 vs 11, were very tough. When we lost Ben (Holmes) we had to dig in and all that commitment and desire they have shown over the course of the season came to the fore.
“Even when we went 2-1 down, the players’ will to win meant that they never gave up and we got a deserved penalty. Paul Mullin showed the composure and quality to put away that penalty and then we did the same in the shoot-out.
“The final twenty minutes of extra time were very difficult; we had lads with cramp and lads who limping as a result of bumps and bruises. They were unbelievable; they gave everything and more.”
The hard work now starts for the Under-18s ahead of the game next Wednesday.
“We do a lot of research ahead of every game that we play,” said Town’s former midfielder. “Our analyst Emyr Humphreys does a lot of work with videos to help the lads understand our opponents. As coaches we will work on the game plan on the back of the research and put the work in on the training ground. Loftus Road will be a fantastic place to football and we will be positive in our approach.”
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