U19 midfielder reviews Glossop defeat
- Hakeem Sandah reflects on first game of pre-season
- Midfielder praised teammates grit in difficult game
- 17-year-old on playing alongside Michael Tonge
Huddersfield Town Under-19 midfielder Hakeem Sandah praised his teammates' grit in their pre-season friendly against Glossop North End on Saturday afternoon.
An extremely youthful Young Terriers XI travelled to Derbyshire to take on the Northern Premier League Division One East outfit, putting in a positive performance despite the 2-0 scoreline.
Sandah was bought on as a 60th minute substitute by Head Coach George Danaher, and reflected on the match after the final whistle.
“I think it was a tough game. Playing against older opponents you have to be smarter and know when to dribble or when to pass.
“Obviously they had a physical advantage over us, but we still managed to dig in and stay in the game.”
With this being the U19s’ first pre-season fixture ahead of the 2022/23 season, it was a chance for the first-year scholars to don the Terriers kit for the first time, something the 17-year-old said they did well.
“Our main aim for the game against Glossop was trying to play as a team.
“We’ve got new, young players in, so we’re still trying to gel and I know slowly and surely we’ll start to gel and get better results.”
The 17-year old entered the pitch as Michael Tonge, 22 years his senior, left it! Our Academy Individual Coach adopted an on-field coaching role to guide the Young Terriers through the match, which Sandah explained was beneficial.
“It was a good experience!
“He helped us a lot, especially when there were things going on that we didn’t fully understand, but Tonge has been through previously in his career.”
The U19s’ next pre-season fixture is against Preston North End on Saturday 23 July, with the action kicking off at 11am at our Millers Oils High Performance Complex.
