COACH Paul Renton was naturally delighted after seeing his young Jersey Bulls side maintain their bid to claim the club’s first piece of silverware.
Darryl Mvalo’s confident finish, just before the half-hour mark in Woking, settled the tie but the development squad dominated for large parts of the game.
‘I’m really pleased for the players and for the club.
‘They’ve put a bit of cash into the under-23s and given these lads an opportunity, so hopefully this repays some of the time and effort they’ve put in,’ said Renton.
‘I thought in the first half we played some lovely football and I told the boys at half-time that’s the best they’ve played this season.
‘Second half, we just had to show another side of our game. I thought every one of them showed character, grit, determination and that competitiveness I like.
‘I thought 1-0 flattered them [Sheerwater] – it could have been three or four. We missed a number of good chances and we’ll talk about that, but I’m not going to be critical about the players. How can I after what they’ve done? I’m so pleased for them.’
Renton was missing a number of regulars for the last-four clash, with Joe Kilshaw and Sam Sutcliffe on first-team duty and Sol Solomon out injured.
But the pathway is well and truly alive in the Island, with Renton seeing his young charges come of age against a side containing a number of players with senior football experience.
‘I’ve known these boys for ten, 12 years – I’ve worked with them since they were 11 years old,’ he said. ‘I know what I’ve got in my locker, that’s for sure. And we’ve got more of this going forward, so I’m quite relaxed. If you look at the team tonight and who wasn’t in it, it’ll take a good team to beat us.
‘We had some 17, 18-year-olds on the pitch playing against a physical, streetwise team and we matched them. But we also played our football and I want them to take risks in the right areas and express themselves, and not worry about making mistakes. And you can see it, week-after-week.
‘It’s a result for the whole club and I’m pleased for Ian, Russell, the board, Gary and Kev and also for Jersey football. It’s for the whole Island.’
