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Coach 'gutted but proud' after Carlisle United's FA Youth Cup defeat
Mark Birch admitted he was “gutted” but proud of Carlisle United’s under-18s after their agonising exit from the FA Youth Cup.
The young Blues went down to a 4-2 extra-time defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the third round at Brunton Park.
Carlisle had led 2-1 heading into the 88th minute but the visitors levelled late on and then struck twice in extra-time.
It meant the end of United’s spirited run in the competition after a compelling contest under the lights at the Blues’ ground.
“I'm just gutted for the lads, to be honest, but what I am really proud of is they made such a game of it,” under-18s’ boss Birch told the News & Star.
“Cup football's not easy, the emotions of it, the swing from going 1-0 down to 2-1 up, to all the final moments of regular time, then going [out in extra-time].
“They'll learn from it, but I'm just so proud of both teams, because I thought it was a proper game of youth cup football.”
Carlisle went behind to a Cole Fisher penalty before Dan Hopper equalised and then set up sub Lewis Lambert to put the Blues in front.
But Harry Shield’s free-kick for Plymouth took the tie into extra-time, and goals from Seb Campbell and Frankie Maund sent the Devon outfit through.
There were numerous other chances at both ends with Carlisle’s attacking intent clear from the opening stages.
“We want to be a front foot team – we want to play a brand of football that the lads actually enjoy being in,” said Birch.
United's second goalscorer, Lewis Lambert, in a tussle for the ball (Image: Barbara Abbott)
"Right from the start, the plan was to get amongst them, and we did that. We could have been a couple up after maybe five minutes, but that ruthlessness in both penalty boxes is something we probably haven't quite got at the minute, as a team.
“The way we fought back after conceding the penalty is what we’re capable of.
“We just need to find that little bit of consistency. But fair play to the lads, they kept going right to the end, and honestly, I can't fault them.
“We do demand a lot of these lads on a daily basis, but I think this is a night where, yes, we've lost the game, but we're so proud of the way they've gone about it.”
United’s best moments in Tuesday's tie involved Hopper, who broke through to score an impressive equaliser before his moment of flair set up Lambert’s goal.
“That’s what Dan Hopper's capable of, and we'll keep demanding of Dan,” Birch said.
“He's capable of so much. If he can find that little bit of belief in himself to really express himself on the field, he can be really good footballer.”
Bobby Skinner on the ball for United (Image: Barbara Abbott)
United were unable to close the game out after going 2-1 up, and Birch said: “The danger was always the long ball, which was shown a few times just before they scored the equalising goal.
“Sometimes youth football is all about playing football, getting it down on the ground and playing, then all of a sudden you play against a team who are so direct.
“It's something our centre-halves haven't played against for a long time. The learning curve is that there's more than one way to play football, so as a defender you've got to make sure you can adapt to defending in a number of ways, which they'll learn as they go forward.
“In terms of their third goal early in extra-time, it was just a ball out of the blue, a ball into the box and they reacted to the rebound off Thomas [Randall, United’s keeper].
United led 2-1 but were pegged back in the 88th minute before losing in extra-time (Image: Barbara Abbott)
“I actually thought we started the extra-time very well, and we were very front foot, but things like that just set you back. We threw everything at them, but we just couldn't get that equalising goal.”
United thought they had made it 3-3 in the closing stages of extra-time but a close-range goal was chalked off for offside.
“I don't think the linesman could really give an explanation of what he's actually given,” Birch said.
“He put his flag up very early, and we asked him who was offside, and I don't think he really knows.
“But until we've watched it on video, we don't really know [what happened].”
Birch went onto highlight areas of the team that deserved particular credit.
“I thought the lads at the back were magnificent on the night,” the coach said.
“And fair play to Bobby Skinner. He did a job at right-side centre-half when he’s a midfielder, and the two other first-years I thought were magnificent.”
The Blues coach also paid tribute to the hundreds of fans who backed the young Blues at Brunton Park.
Plymouth's Kian Burch was sent off in extra-time (Image: Barbara Abbott)
“It was great – there was a great turnout here and it's fantastic to see the lads get support like that,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of talk about other people wishing the lads luck, and it's fantastic – and it's what we want for our academy.
“We want people to know that, at the academy, we will try and develop players and there is opportunity.
“Some of the work we do probably goes a little bit unnoticed, but we've got some good players in the system who are progressing quite well, and hopefully we can get them to the next stage so they can play on even bigger nights than this.”
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