Following their respective braces against Hull City, Vimal Yoganathan and Rafael Monteiro shared their thoughts as our U18s ran out 5-1 winners on Saturday afternoon.
Although the Reds were slow out of the blocks and conceded in a disappointing first half, an inspired display in the second was enough to see them breeze past the Tigers and take all three points back to Barnsley.
“We started off so slow and ended up conceding early, but I think we really grew into it,” began Yoganathan. “The subs made a good impact which changed the game for us.
“If we want to go as far as we can and win the league then we have to start quick; starting slowly like we did will cost us in the future, so we have to iron that out.”
With the Reds already 3-1 ahead courtesy of Emmaisa Nzondo’s leveller and Yoganathan’s double, Monteiro added another two in quick succession to seal an impressive victory on the road.
“We did really have to get our heads into it after the first half,” added the Portuguese midfielder. “I think we were way too lethargic; we knew Hull hadn’t won a game in a while so we thought it would be easy, but we got reality checked!
“The coach reminded us at half-time that we’re away and need to work hard. He said that we needed to outrun them, which I think we definitely did in the second half.”
After an indifferent opening period, our U18s showed their qualities and blew Hull away with ruthless efficiency.
Yoganathan believes it was a case of doing the simple things right, something that he and his teammates weren’t doing in the first half.
“I think what also helped in the second half was winning first and seconds,” he reflected. “I think we were way too off it in the first half. Once we got back to the basics and started running forwards, tracking runners back and got our heads down we really came into the game.
“Hopefully it continues,” remarked Yoganathan, reflecting on his brace. “My goal is to score and help the team as much as I can throughout the season.
“My coaches have been onto me about getting into attacking positions more and it’s definitely something I can improve. Sometimes I’m a bit lazy and hanging back but I think if I can get in and around the box more, I can definitely grab a few more goals this season.”
The goalscoring mindset is similarly shared by Monteiro, who expressed his elation at grabbing two goals as well. “I’m really happy I got two and hopefully there’s many more to come.
“I’m gutted about the hat-trick chance though! I should have taken it around the keeper, but I’ve ended up trying to chip him and it’s gone over.
“Overall though it’s a good win, we outran them, we worked hard, got stuck in and ended up scoring the goals we needed.”
