Bristol City under-23s captain Josh Owers praised the “gritty” and “strong performance” from his side as the Young Robins went second in the Professional Development League 2 after beating Swansea.
Owers scored the only goal of the game on Tuesday afternoon when he received a pass after a breakaway from Prince Henry to finish into an open goal.
City were able to hold on from the Swans’ second half fightback, something Owers was keen to point out after the game.
“A bit nervy at the end but we stuck in, helped each other out and come through it. We dug deep to get the three points. (It was) a gritty, strong performance,” he said.
It was a cagey first half at the Robins High Performance Centre, but it was City who had the better chances.
Omar Taylor-Clarke found Seb Palmer-Houlden from a corner kick routine, but the latter’s shot was comfortable for the Swansea goalkeeper. Then Dylan Kadji ran down the right side and put in a teasing cross. However, no one was able to get on the end of it.
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City came out firing in the second period and caught their Welsh counterparts cold when a corner was cleared away to Henry, coming off of scoring a hattrick in the last home game, who drove from the halfway line and found himself inside the box. He showed great composure to square it to Owers who slotted the ball into the net.
“That’s my first goal in about two or three years so it’s a long time coming!” Owers added. “It happened so quickly. I’m happy to get the three points and the winner as well.
“That’s three wins on the bounce now, we just have to keep going. If the performances are good then we’ll get the three points as well. I think there’s around seven games left now, so we’ll be looking to get in the top two like last year and try and win it.”
Swansea’s best chance of the game came when Dylan Morgan tried to thunder a low shot into the corner, but he was denied by a superb save from Harvey Wiles-Richards. They also had a free kick just on the edge of the box that sailed over the crossbar.
It was a big win for the Young Robins, as it launched them into second in the PDL 2, three points behind Ipswich Town with two games in hand on the Tractor Boys.
They are next in action on Tuesday, 15 March, when they take on Colchester United at Ashton Gate.
THE TEAM
Harvey Wiles-Richards (GK), Jamie Knight-Lebel, Omar Taylor-Clarke, Josh Owers (c), Wood, Idehen, Bell, Kadji, Henry, Palmer-Houlden (Hutton 70), Soady (Thomas 65).
Subs not used: Boyd, Brown, Richards.
