Young Bulls breeze through

Jersey Bulls U18s celebrate Leandro Vieira's opening strike in their 4-0 win over AFC Croydon Athletic Picture: ESAPHOTOS

HIS young charges may have breezed past AFC Croydon Athletic with four goals to their name, but Jersey Bulls U18s coach Paul Renton still believes they need to be more clinical in finishing off teams earlier.

Bulls went into half-time of their first round Grant McLellan Youth Cup tie in south London one goal to the good but had spurned a number of chances to put the game to bed, including a missed penalty.

Such was their superiority on this occasion, any fears Croydon might rally were quickly dispelled and eventually the young Bulls put their opponents to the sword with three second-half strikes to win 4-0. However, Renton knows that they cannot be so charitable in front of goal when tougher opponents stand in their way.

‘The boys played very well and they put in a dominant performance but if I had any concerns it was the amount of chances we missed,’ he said.

‘The game should have been finished by half-time. Against better teams we’re going to have to take our chances.’

Otherwise, Renton was pleased with the overall play of his team and highlighted the amount of talented players from which he can pick.

‘I don’t want to be too critical because it was a positive performance throughout. Our build-up play and chance creation was very good. The overall quality was very good,’ he added. ‘I’m chuffed to win and delighted to have scored four goals. I just wish we’d have scored a couple of them in the first half.’

A bullet strike from Leandro Vieira opened the scoring with nearly half-an-hour played but Sammy Henia-Kamau saw his penalty attempt saved just before the break after he was brought down in the box.

The Bulls doubled their lead soon after the restart.

Harry Scott slotted into the far-left corner after a great first touch and turn inside the penalty area.

Henia-Kamau atoned for his penalty miss when he flicked in Joel McKinley’s free-kick to make it three with over a third of the game still to play.

Then substitute Conor O’Keeffe completed the win when he tapped in Miguel Carvalho’s low cross.

It was O’Keeffe’s debut appearance for the team, as it was for fellow substitutes Barry Beatson and Leighton Gilroy, and Renton stressed that he hoped all the players in his squad will get a chance to contribute.

‘The players who have come have done well. We’ve got 20 players signed on and only three who haven’t been involved yet,’ he said.

‘By the end of the season, I hope all the players will have had an opportunity.’

Jersey Bulls U18s: Harry Gladdish, Damon Huckerby, Fergus Boyle, Joel McKinley, Charlie Brennan, Taylor-Jack Woodley, Harry Scott, Leandro Vieira, Sammy Henia-Kamau (Leighton Gilroy, 61), Seaney McColgan (Barry Beatson, 66), Miguel Carvalho (c) (Conor O’Keeffe, 61).

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