The Barnet FC Youth Team take on Fisher FC this evening in the third qualifying round of the FA Youth Cup, and Academy Manager Henry Newman says that his side are determined to progress even further after an excellent start in the competition.
The match takes place at 19:45 tonight at Champion Hill – the home of Dulwich Hamlet – with admission just £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
The U18s have been in excellent form so far this season, and currently find themselves top of their Football League Youth Alliance division. However, following a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Cambridge United at the weekend Newman is looking to get back on track with a positive result this evening:
“We have got to go there and get a result. That is the long and short of it when it comes to the FA Youth Cup.
“It’s OK in the league saying that performances were good and that is good for their development, but when it comes to the cup it is all about winning games of football and getting through to the next round.”
Having already seen his side excel in a tricky away tie against Tilbury in the first qualifying round, when the Youth Team won 3-1 thanks to a brace from Nana Kyei and another from Brian Testolin, Newman is looking for more of the same:
“The previous away game that we had against Tilbury was a very, very tough game in terms of going there and it being a non-league ground and having to warm up in the dark off the pitch beforehand in front of 250 fans all supporting the home side.
“It was a good atmosphere for the boys and a good experience for them to get used to.”
Should they prevail tonight, the Youth Team will take on Metropolitan Police Youth in the first round proper at The Hive during the week commencing November 3rd.
And following their excellent performance under the floodlights at The Hive in the previous round, where they defeated FC Clacton 11-1, Newman says that all of his players are desperate to experience that again:
“The players have really put on a show in the previous round. They started on the front foot from the first minute and it is one of those ones where you come out of the game disappointed that we haven’t scored more and disappointed that we have conceded one at the end.
“You see the disappointment in the players’ eyes when they found out that they are on the bench of perhaps not even in the squad for a game on the first team pitch. It really does dangle the carrot for the players.
“That’s where they all want to be. Some of them have had a taste of it with the first team, a good proportion of them have had a taste of it with the Youth Team and I’m sure that they will all want to have more of the same by getting through to the next round.”
You can hear more from Henry Newman on the Youth Team’s progress in both league and cup in our exclusive video interview below:
