City U18 2 Rotherham United U18 3

City U18 2 Rotherham United U18 3

Sam Tillen was pleased with the impact of his young players during City’s narrow 3-2 defeat at home to Rotherham United U18 on Friday.

Tillen fielded a few U15 players and took time to highlight the good performance levels from the young Imps.

He said: “We had a very young side out, ending with three under 15s on the pitch. Under 15 Leo Vout started an under 18 match for the first time and did exceptionally well.”

The Imps’ goals from Russell Berko and Denny Oliver weren’t enough to secure victory, although Tillen saw positives to build on from the attacking intent they showed in the second half.

He added: “After some tactical input at half-time, we were much better at executing our play from the back and we went ahead with two very good goals from Russell Berko and Denny Oliver.

“We transitioned well and exploited the space behind their defence very effectively, with Carter Ford, Dakara Wifa and Russell Berko looking very threatening.”

“Despite going 3-2 down, the lads kept going and could have equalised at the end.”

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