Cheltenham Town Academy coach Ashley Vincent was pleased to see the work his Under-18s side have done rewarded with a convincing 3-0 win over Forest Green Rovers.
Three first-half goals followed by a second half penalty save from Archie Burford ensured the young Robins were able to get one over their Gloucestershire rivals.
Former Robins player Vincent is now the temporary lead professional development phase coach at the club, following Pete Haynes’ departure to Southampton FC in September, and his focus was firmly fixed on the performance of his team rather than the bragging rights of a derby win.
“It might mean something to the boys but for me it’s just about their performance and development, whether we play Swindon, Forest Green or Bournemouth, it makes no difference to me,” Vincent told Park Life Sport post-match.
“I know recently we haven’t been able to apply those finishing touches to get our goals, so I was pleased to see the rewards, but more than anything I was pleased with their intensity.”
Defender Cam Walters opened the scoring within the first five minutes, nodding home Brandon Liggett’s right footed corner at the far post.
Another corner from Liggett would bring Cheltenham’s second goal. This time Eddie Lewis was able to get his head to the second ball following the set piece, and managed to squeeze it in at the near post.
Set pieces are something Vincent and have his coaching staff have been working with the players on recently, so he was thrilled to reap the benefits of those drills.
“Dan Still [goalkeeper coach] has come back into the under-18s environment after working with the first team, and during that time he was working with the first team coaches on set pieces, so he’s brought that back into our group.
“We’ve worked hard at them, both defensively and in terms of attacking, and we scored from two of them today. It’s about looking at those finer details, with the boys really being aggressive in attacking them and they know if they work hard and be aggressive, they’ll get those rewards.”
Late in stoppage time of the first half, Tom King was brought to ground inside the penalty area by a trailing leg. Fin Jenner was then able to stroke a spot-kick into the bottom corner and further stretch the Robins’ lead.
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However, Cheltenham would face a much sterner test in the second half, as Rovers came out with intent. After Walters impeded Luca Alonzi’s run into the penalty area, the visitors were awarded a penalty kick. After picking himself back up, Alonzi stepped up to take the penalty, but was denied by the strong palms of Robins ‘keeper Archie Burford.
“They were in the ascendancy for sure, so that save kind of helped us reset and keep it at 3-0 rather than 3-1 so that they can’t feel like they’re back in the game,” Vincent continued.
“Archie’s had a lot of praise from his teammates and the goalkeeper coach on the bench, so he’ll be pleased with that.
“I thought his all-round game today was excellent, from his communication with the back-three to his decision making of when to play out from the back or recognizing that they’d closed in so playing a little bit longer.”
Following the penalty save, the game fell into a bit of a lull, and with the Robins coasting towards victory in the final few minutes, under-15s squad member Charlie Caple was handed his first minutes with the under-18s side. The promotion of youth at Cheltenham Town is something Vincent is very proud of.
“It’s another example of the pathway at this football club – we’ve got some really good players on our production line.
“There was a thought yesterday about whether Charlie could play a little bit longer, but he hasn’t trained much in the under-18s environment, he hasn’t played with them of course up until today. I think it was only right that he had that 10 minutes or so to get a feel of the game.
“We’ve done it with the likes of Cam Walters, Brandon [Liggett] and Freddie [Willcox] along the way, so I think that little bit of dieting of how much we stretch them and get them comfortable with the level but at the same time backing them.”
Cheltenham Town under-18s will be in action once more on Saturday, October 22, when they travel to play Swindon Town in the EFL Youth Alliance South West.
