Colchester United U18s take on Maidstone United U18s in the FA Youth Cup second round in the hopes of advancing to round three, where teams from the Championship and Premier League get added to the pot.
Colchester United are coming into this game off the back of a 5-0 win against Oxford United in the Professional Development League Cup. It was a game where they needed to win by two goals to top their group and advance to the knockout stages. It was a fantastic performance that would have given the young side plenty of confidence, not only was the attacking play brilliant, but the U’s controlled the game fantastically and didn’t give their opponents any time to compose themselves while also holding onto the ball for extended periods of time. The U’s will be hoping to continue this good form.
In the first round of the competition, the U’s travelled to New Salamis where they played out an intense game that ended 2-1 in favour of the visitors. Second half goals from Kennedy Mupomba and Milton Oni where enough to break down a resilient defence who did well to take their chances and score on the counter attack.
Maidstone United have made history after progressing to the second round of the FA Youth Cup, this is the first time in their history that the club have made it this far, and they did it with an 87th minute goal against Beaconsfield in a 3-2 win away from home.
Andy Thomas, the General Manager of Maidenhead United U18s side, said this following their win:
“It was an exceptional evening to be involved with, going into the game after a long journey in monsoon conditions was always going to be a challenge.
“Going a goal down early on, we knew we were up against it and against the run of play we nicked an equaliser just before half-time which put a different complexion on the team talk. Coming out the second half we conceded not long after but one thing the group have got is a great work ethic and resilience.”
The visitors had to go through multiple qualifying rounds to get into the first round and it hasn’t been an easy run, making it to the first round proper is something that has only been done four times by Maidenhead, and it was the first time in six years that the young side managed to make it through.
There will be a pre-match show for this game involving interviews with manager Elliot Ward and one of the players, as well as this, also on the show will be the highlights from the U’s first round victory against New Salamis.
Tickets are available to buy from Col U Tickets, with prices for adults being £5, concession tickets are £3, Under 18s go for £3, Under 14s go for £2 and Under 8s go for £1