Town youngsters hit five but boss not pleased
The Town Under-18s maintained their unbeaten record this season with their 13th win in 14 games by easing to a 5-0 win over Barnet on Friday morning.
Freddie Hinds netted twice while Tyreeq Bakinson, Alex Atkinson and George Murray were on also on target – but manager Paul Driver was not happy with the level of performance ahead of the Town’s FA Youth Cup tie with Colchester United a week on Monday.
“We were sluggish in possession of the ball and made a lot of bad decisions,” Driver told lutontown.co.uk. “If we play like that against Colchester we’re going to be caught out.”
The Town youngsters went ahead on the half-hour when Bakinson struck from the edge of the box and five minutes later the lead was doubled when Hinds finished well from 18 yards.
Five minutes into the second half the Hatters were awarded a penalty but instead of usual taker Atkinson taking it, James Verney stepped up – and missed.
The Town did make it 3-0 20 minutes into the second period when a James Justin cross was headed home by Hinds for his second of the game.
On 78 minutes substitute Murray’s shot was tipped over the crossbar by a Barnet defender and Atkinson converted the resultant penalty to make it 4-0.
And the Hatters made absolutely sure of victory with a fifth and final goal in injury time when Kavan Cotter’s right-wing cross was met by Murray. A Barnet defender attempted to clear the shot off the line but an eagle-eyed official awarded the goal.
A disappointed Driver added: “We did well to record the result and the margin of victory is pleasing, but for me it’s about the performance and we weren’t good enough with the ball. We were sloppy at times.
“Our decision-making was poor. We set how we’re going to do things before the game and expect them to be followed through.”
Town U18s: Gooch, Bean, McJannet (sub McGhan-George 76), Musonda, Famewo, Justin, Atkinson, Bakinson, Snelus (sub Cotter 66), Verney (sub Murray 78), Hinds.
Remember the Town Under-18s are in action under the Kenilworth Road floodlights in the first round of the FA Youth Cup on Monday 2nd November, kick-offf 7pm.