FA Youth Cup 2nd Round Proper - Cambridge United 1 Crewe Alexandra 2

Whilst we failed to match our giant killing exploits of last season, this was a fantastic cup tie that I am sure would have been enjoyed by the spectators and could have gone either way.

Football matches are often decided by pivotal moments and we will look back at Zac Costello's strike against the bar and a stonewall penalty shout for a trip on Craig Bussens as missed opportunities with the result in the balance at 1-1. We needed a goal during this spell of pressure in the second half but the visitors survived and then came back into the game in the closing stages.

It is often said that football is a funny old game and looking back on the two matches with Crewe this year and last; I felt that we played better football and created more chances in defeat than victory. The difference though was after a shaky first twenty minutes last season, we looked really solid and defended well throughout. Last Thursday night, we were a little vulnerable out of possession and individual mistakes led to both of the Crewe goals.

This report will not be about recriminations or apportioning blame though. Whilst the players will look back on the game with disappointment, they should also be proud of their efforts against a League One Club who play in the FA Premier Academy League alongside the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, who incidentally they beat last month. Their only two defeats this season have come against Everton and Manchester City.

Crewe Alexandra is synonymous with youth development and a great example to all clubs our size in producing a stream of first team players, despite competition from much bigger and richer Academies in the North West. Whilst they compete against million pounds a year budgets every week, it is a compliment to our players that we have again matched them over 90 minutes on our zero budget.

It was pleasing to receive so many compliments and such respect from their coaching staff, and we can hopefully forge some links with their Academy, learn from their best practices and arrange fixtures with their younger teams later this season.

Whilst we gain hugely from playing in the Ridgeons League, we do miss the opportunity of matches such as these against teams that are as technically proficient as Crewe. Our players would benefit from a mixture of the two, so they also test themselves against the intelligent movement of players such as the other night. Rather than playing in a series of qualifying rounds doing no-one any good, we could have arranged friendlies against professional clubs of this ilk. How we need the first team to gain promotion...

I read comments last year by the chairman of Crewe questioning how much longer they can sustain their status as an Academy with such financial demands. We also have a constant struggle to continue our youth work in the absence of any funding or recognition by the FA or Football League. In the current climate of questions regarding the future of English football following the debacle at Wembley, this is a subject upon which I am going to express my views to whoever will listen in the next few weeks.

I could fill loads of pages but I will start by mentioning one anomaly: Crewe and other clubs such as Norwich, Ipswich etc can play in the FA Premier Academy League provided they meet the criteria - regardless of their First Team not playing in the Premiership. We lose our status and funding as a Centre of Excellence and cannot play in their competition, which is administered by the Football League, because our First Team are outside the Football League. Why the difference?

And one idea: Why does funding not reflect the quality of each youth scheme by grants being awarded in proportion to the number of English players that have progressed into the respective first team squad over a period of time? This would encourage good practice and reward those clubs trying to do things properly rather than simply taking the grant money and going through the motions. I also find it ridiculous that we are in the hands of our first team with regard to gaining Centre of Excellence status; just as Lincoln City's youth scheme will be hoping their first team stay up.

Long term development of youngsters is determined by short term results. It may even come down to a mistake or a controversial refereeing decision at the end of the season, not only to determine which league the first team play in but also the future of their Under 9's etc. This is crazy and typical of the haphazard way the FA and Football League "organise" youth football in this country! Using Lincoln City as an example, they may be relegated and promoted again but in the absence of funding for their Centre of Excellence, could scrap their scheme in the meantime. So what happens to the nine year olds? Their long term development is hindered thanks to the rules of the FA and Football League. Surely, youth development should be separated from the fortunes of the first team providing the level of coaching and standard of facilities is maintained to the required level?

Back to the Crewe match, and after a shaky start from a couple of set plays, we took the lead when Robbie Willmott turned and shot into the corner from just inside the penalty area. In the spell that followed, we could have put this game to bed. Our opponents looked vulnerable but we just lacked the quality to pick out the right run and pass in the final third. Piers Wixon took one shot off the toe of Sam Cutler and Robbie Willmott failed to gamble from a right wing cross. We also had a goal disallowed from a corner and threatened to score from every set play. The equaliser came against the run of play courtesy of poor defending as both our centre backs failed to deal with a basic ball forward, and we were punished by a neat finish from Ajay Leitch-Smith for their equaliser.

At half time, we knew the game could go either way and that we just needed to add a little cutting edge to our play and become a little more solid at the back. The opening twenty minutes was exactly the response we had hoped for. The players really started on the front foot and pushed Crewe back from the outset. We needed to score during this period of sustained pressure but when the referee did not give a stonewall penalty for a trip on Craig Bussens and Zac smashed a shot against the underside of the NRE crossbar, which ricocheted against their player on the line to safety, it started to look like it wasn't to be our night. Once Crewe had weathered the storm, they started to dominate possession but only carved out one clear cut chance, again from our mistake. Lewis Carr dribbled with the ball into trouble but Phil Smith rescued him and us with a fantastic one-handed save facing a one v one with Josh Thompson.

The winner was soft and a disappointing way to lose. Substitute Ben Marshall scuffed a left footed shot through a crowd of bodies and wrong footed Phil Smith to nestle in the bottom near corner. With less than ten minutes left on the clock, and our star man Craig Bussens already substituted with an injury, it was very hard to press for an equaliser. Crewe played out this period in a very composed manner, keeping good possession in advanced areas and frustrating our attempts to create a head of steam. Our only real chance came from a left wing cross, but Piers Wixon headed just over.

The Academy Managers at Crewe, Neil Critchley and James Collins, were very complimentary after the game and I also think somewhat relieved. They were impressed with several of our team and I thought Rory McAuley, Craig Bussens, Sam Cutler and Piers Wixon were the pick of our players. These lads are really adding a work ethic and consistency to their play which is pleasing and bodes well for the remainder of their season. We hope that having twice earned the respect of Crewe, in victory and defeat, that we can forge some links to benefit us in the future.

With regards to our scholars, we are now concentrating on the real business of helping as many of our second years as possible to achieve their aim of a professional contract at Cambridge United. We also need to give as much experience as possible to some of the first years in the Ridgeons League and start the exhaustive process of recruiting our new intake of scholars ready for next season. Unbelievably, that starts now!

Jez George

Team: Smith, McAuley, Kirby (Yambasu 88), Carr, Costello, Cutler, Bussens (Ives 75), Marriott, Wixon, Willmott, Patrick (Paterson 70).

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