Young Terriers continue development in a win at Burton
- Young Terriers work on fight zones with positive work on and off the ball
- Patrick Jones and Robson Shipley finish off two great Town counter attacks
- Coach Jon Worthington pleased with performance and Under-17s’ improvement
Jon Worthington’s Under-17s returned to their development programme on Tuesday with a positive performance away at Burton Albion and a 2-1 win to show for it.
The Young Terriers were set up with a focus on their off the ball work and were astute throughout, winning the ball high up the pitch to create a number of chances.
Two of those attacks resulted in fine goals from Patrick Jones and Robson Shipley either side of half time, as they both got in behind the Albion defence and finished off both opportunities skilfully.
Despite conceding in the last minutes of the game it was also a fine defensive performance from the Under-17s, who kept their shape and for 90 minutes made sure their opponents had little on the ball in front of goal.
Under-17s Coach ‘Worthy’ was overall pleased with the performance, feeling his side have really come into their own in recent performances and grasped the training objectives set out in recent games.
“I thought we were excellent from start to finish today. We dominated the game, played out from the back really well at times and played through them, so overall it’s really pleasing.
“We had a lot of emphasis on the off the ball work at the minute, and it was no coincidence that we won the ball high and aggressively and got the first goal from that pressing high and everyone playing on the front foot - our aggressive press really set the tone of the game.
“Also we were fluent, created loads of opportunities, got in down the sides of them which was an area we felt we could exploit. In an ideal world we’d have scored more and could’ve been more ruthless and clinical, which is what we talked about at half time, but at the end of the day the lads were brilliant today as individuals and as a team.
“I thought they were good defensively too. Each unit has a role and responsibility when you are pressing high, it’s important it’s done as a team it can’t just be individuals, and the back four allowed us to get up the pitch and were dominant throughout the game.”
Next up for the Young Terriers is a trip to Rotherham in the Youth Alliance League, where Worthy has said he will be hoping his group can continue their fine form as a part of their development as players.
“We’ve got a nice bit of momentum going at the minute in terms of performance and the lads have got real clarity of what needs to be done in and out of possession, so it will be just good to go into the next one and let the lads express themselves and continue playing with confidence.”
Town’s Under-17 team vs Burton Albion (4-3-3)
Giosue Bellagambi; Luke Daley, Loick Ayina (Josh Okpolokpo, 75’), Tom Bamford, Gulutte Zunda; Ernaldo Krasniqi, Myles Bright, Ben Midgley (c); Patrick Jones, Brahima Diarra (Darnel Baxter-Alleyne, 75’), Robson Shipley
Unused Sub
Andre Edionhon
Scorers
Patrick Jones 45’, Robson Shipley 49’
