FC Halifax Town under 19s manager Mark Trueman stressed that his side must be more clinical after they were forced to penalties in their win over Hyde United in the youth League Cup.
Goalkeeper Jack Atkinson twice saved from 12 yards out as Halifax won 7-6 in the shootout after the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Trueman, whose side are now unbeaten in their last five in all competitions, feels that he his side need to punish sides more often when coming up against strong opposition.
“We know we’ve got to be better in that final third,” admitted Trueman. “We’re dominating games in terms of possession and we just need to turn it into goals.”
“I’d be a little worried if we weren’t creating chances, but we are creating chances so hopefully with a bit more work on the training pitch we can turn those chances into goals.”
“When we’ve come up against quality opposition we’re still lacking that edge in the final third. But, I’m pleased with the result because I think we deserved it today. But, we did it the hard way.”
Trueman also praised the performance of his number one Atkinson who, having three spot-kicks in the previous round against Stockport, proved the hero once more.
“Credit to Jack, for a couple of great saves again when it got into penalties,” Trueman continued. “He is doing great now.”
“We always think we’ve got a chance and it always helps the confidence of our outfield players because they know Jack’s going to make a save.”
“Again, credit to him, he’s made a great save at the end and it’s allowed us to win the game.”
The manager also believes that tougher tests, against the likes of Hyde, will be beneficial to his side’s future progress.
“It’s all about development in youth team football,” he added. “We’ve got to get these lads ready, get them into winning mentalities and coming up against different opposition will help that.”
“The opposition today was a good challenge for us and we know that. We know that the teams are only going to get better. We need to challenge our players to see how far they can go in their development.”
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