Balague: Youngsters did Biggleswade United proud in cup

This week against Barton Rovers many of the youngsters covered themselves in glory when they played in the North Beds Charity Cup and as an added bonus pulled off a 2-1 win to go forward into the next round where we will face Biggleswade FC in the semi-finals next year.

I share our coach Jimmy Martin’s pride at the fight and unity shown by no fewer than eight players aged between 16 and 20 who battled as if their lives depended on it to earn the victory.

Only two from our 3-0 FA Vase victory over London Lions were in the line up.

And over and above everything else what pleases me most is that it serves as due testament to the club’s bravery and commitment to promote youth all the way up to the first team. Tuesday night our youngsters showed that despite their tender years they are more than capable of stepping up to the plate if required to do so.

I am optimistic about the future and after an unbeaten run of six, we can forget any cup commitments for a while as we now face three league games on the bounce where hopefully we can maintain the impetus and start to climb up the table.

The key this season has been the strength we have shown in both boxes and a winning mentality instilled in our players from all our sides.

There is always room for improvement and we always need to know why we win or lose so we can learn from both and impose the type of game required for any given game, sometimes direct, other times by controlling the game. That is exactly what we are gradually instilling into our players on the training ground. And I feel fans are appreciating it – they did celebrate big time on Tuesday. Tell your friends to come and watch us!

Off the field we are planning a quiz night on Friday, October 12 to raise much needed funds for our Academy. Tickets are £7.50 per person for teams of six and food is included in the ticket price and it would be wonderful to see as many people from the local community as possible attend the night.

But before then there’s some football to be played starting with a trip to face Wembley tomorrow (Sat k.o. 3pm) at their Vale Farm ground.