Swindon Town U18 duo proud to have made first-team debuts

Swindon Town under-18s players Ant McCormick and Owen Foye made their first-team debuts in the 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur U21s.

The defensive pair have made consistent appearances for the young Robins this season and both stood out with their displays in the FA Youth Cup victory against Newport County.

“I enjoyed it a lot and it was a proud moment for me and my parents,” Foye said.

“It was really good getting on that pitch in front of my parents, especially with all my mates coming down as well.

“It was good [playing for the first-team], it helps me a bit more getting out my comfort zone and obviously playing with Ant week-in week-out.”

McCormick played the whole 90 minutes on Tuesday after he impressed manager Ian Holloway with his performances for the youth side.

He started alongside Rob Delaney for the first-half but the former Newport player was replaced by Grant Hall, and the young defender was happy to feature with experienced individuals.

“Experience is key, they’ve got 100s of games under their belt and it’s an honour to be next to them.

“It’s the first time being in the team and it was my first start, it’s unreal and is my dream come true.”

Foye reflected on other former academy players making the step up to the first team with players like Joel McGregor and Redman Evans being examples of who has gone professional.

“It’s good to see the academy boys in the first-team, especially Joel.

“He’s started quite a few games and has made an impact when he starts those games or comes off the bench and is scoring goals for them.”

“It’s great to see them doing well and hopefully that could be me, or one of us, in the future”, he added.

The Robins face MK Dons away from home on the weekend, and after impressive performances as of late, the ambition is to travel with the senior team.

Whilst it’s still very early stages for the young players, the optimism is there to make a possible league appearance.

McCormick said: “I’m happy with my performance, so it’s up to the gaffer now, so I feel like I’ve put myself out there, so we’ll see what he will do.”

“Hopefully in the future I can get some more minutes under the belt and just progress from there”, Foye added.