It was a strong start to the Youth Alliance Cup for Lincoln City as a solid performance saw them progress after a 10-1 win over York City. Isaac Rice praised the performance and relentless attitude of the squad as they scored five in each half of the game.
He said: “Really happy with the performance and happy with the amount of goals. I thought we were very clinical and dangerous in transition which is really pleasing. We asked them to be relentless at half time and they definitely showed that, so it was a really pleasing performance and we look to take that into Saturday.
The quality and depth in attack have been on display in the early stages of this season, with Leo Fifield scoring three more and Josh Kennealey adding four to his tally for the season. Rice made the importance of the squad’s attacking capabilities clear.
He said: “It’s really important, we look to give as many opportunities as we can for them to score goals. Today was a really good opportunity for them to do that and like we said at half time, it’s time to be relentless, it’s time to be clinical and both of them showed that.”
The hard work of the players hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff, as Rice was full of praise for the entire squad after such a strong performance.
Rice added: “I’m really pleased for the team, the work in training has been really good over the last couple of weeks so I think they deserve a performance like the one they put on today.”
There is no doubt that it was a fantastic start to the cup campaign for the young Imps, and Rice made his hopes for the squad clear going forward.
He said: “It would be good to keep playing the way we are at the moment. We’re really pleased to be in the next round but we have to take it game by game and Saturday is really big for us. We need to put these sorts of performances in on a weekly basis so we look forward to Saturday first.
City will go on to face York at home again on Saturday, this time in the form of a league fixture. Isaac Rice spoke on the mentality and preparation going into the game.
Rice said: “Keep working on what we’ve worked on over the last couple of weeks, keep reiterating the importance of the out of possession stuff as well as in possession, focusing on some things we could have done a bit better today. I think we could have been a bit more direct at times where we could have gone over the press. We just want to build on the performance we put in tonight.”
Tariro Darikwa played 90 minutes for the young Imps in their convincing 10-1 win over York City in the opening round of the Youth Alliance Cup.
The defender spoke on his individual performance and the challenge of adapting to a new position in the moment.
He said: “I thought at the start of the game, it was a bit of a rocky start. It was a new position for me, so I had to get hold of the ropes but overall, I thought the first half was strong, really good out of possession.
“Then going into the second half, went in really strong, really aggressive and it was obviously nice to get a goal with a little dink.”
Darikwa’s goal came late on in the game, chipping the goalkeeper who had come off his line to solidify what had been a fantastic performance for the defender.
He added: “I took the touch, saw him coming out and thought this is my moment, there’s not going to be another chance, so I just thought to lift it over him, a bit lucky to keep it under the bar but it was a great finish.”
It was a fantastic team performance from City as they look ahead to Saturday where they will host the same opposition once again, this time as a league fixture.
Darikwa spoke on this saying: “Everyone gave it their all today, everyone ran their legs off and it’s amazing to have that knowing we’ve got the same again at the weekend. From here we can only go up, we need to give it our all even more.”