Midfielder looks back on the FA Youth Cup game
Shrewsbury Town’s Under-18s exited the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday night after being beaten by Sunderland at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground.George Hassall equalised for Town in the first half following Sunderland’s early opener, though ultimately it was not enough as Sunderland scored two further goals and Town had a penalty saved late on as Sunderland ran out 3-1 winners.
Winger Ryan Barnett played the full 90 minutes for Town’s Under-18s and spoke to ShrewsWeb after the match.
“Obviously we’re all gutted to go out, but I think the lads gave everything,” Barnett said.
“I think everyone gave 100% and obviously the standard showed in the end but we can’t ask for much more.
“It’s intimidating coming places like this, but it’s times like this when you have to rise to the challenge because this is the standard everyone wants to be playing at.
“We rose to the challenge – we showed that by going one nil down and then getting the goal back to pull it back to 1-1.”
Hassall got Town’s only goal on the night but Barnett himself had a number of chances including one he fashioned for himself in the first half by beating his marker with a nice piece of skill, only to have his low shot saved.
“Everyone gave 100% to try and get that last goal. But it wasn’t to be, they caught us on the break and it went their way tonight.
“I think we took the game to them in the second half, but they caught us on the break twice and everyone just feels gutted because we deserved a lot more from the tie.
“We’ve stuck together as a team, we’re a team with good individuals in it, but we all play well as a team together.”