Our Under 21s headed north yesterday to take on Northampton Town.
A fast start saw Taylor Legg open the scoring. Legg has been in good form for Mickey Spillane’s academy side sitting on 14 goals so far this season.
Northampton responded either side of half time, scoring twice in the second half to take a 3-1 lead.
However, on his return to action Saleem Akanbi found the back of the net, making it 3-2. Akanbi has been sidelined for the past month after picking up an ankle injury away to Eastbourne Borough.
And late on the Clarets forced an own goal and secured a 3-3 draw.
Under 21s Manager Rob Moore said: “TBC”
Academy Manager Mickey Spillane said: ““The game was a great experience for our young Academy boys testing themselves against professional opposition and they certainly stepped up and showed their qualities.
It was perfect in terms of using it as learning tool in certain situations and a marker for us, we can take huge confidence from the game moving forward knowing out they performed and handled a more senior and professional environment.
These games are about development but part of developing is also the know how how to get a result so to come back from 3-1 down to take a point is huge and typifies the mentality they have showed all season in our current Youth Alliance League.””
On his return, forward Saleem Akanbi said: “It felt great to be back involved in a match day yesterday following the ankle sprain.
I thought the team were very good for the majority. Considering the group was a real mix of players, we still looked quite cohesive as a side and dominated spells.
I thought the maturity the boys approached the fixture with was impeccable and set a great foundation for us.
It can be quite easy to find excuses in these games where things are a bit disjoint but the boys were excellent and should be very proud.
The Under 21s are in action next week as well, as they take on Luton Town at their training ground on Tuesday. Kick off is 1pm and there will be in-game updates on our Twitter as well as post-match interviews.
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