AFC Fylde youth team manager hails his history makers after Sunderland victory

The Coasters’ U18s reached that stage for the first time with a 3-1 win over Sunderland at Mill Farm, setting up a trip to Cambridge United.

Goals from Sam Birch, Rhys Long and skipper Maine Walder sent Fylde’s youngsters through against a Sunderland side who ended the evening with eight men after losing three to red cards.

Speaking to the club website afterwards, Prendergast said: “I was confident that the lads could cause an upset.

“I’ve got massive faith in that group, it’s one of the best groups I’ve worked with at this academy.

“The lads set their own standards, they drive each other every day in training and they are a fantastic group of players.

“We’re now in the third round as an academy. We’ve never been at this stage of the competition so it’s a massive achievement.”

Having watched his side move into the next round, Prendergast admitted it was hard to single out one area that pleased him the most.

Instead, he praised his players for the way that they listen and learn to everything they are taught.

“We speak about a lot of different things that we want to try and do within the game – stuff to do with how we want to play and stuff away from that,” he said.

“The lads just take absolutely everything on board; anything you say to them – any kind of guidance, criticism, responsibilities within the game – they carry out and they have got the rewards for that.

“They were absolutely exceptional, pretty much in all areas of the game.

“Most of the time it wasn’t pretty. We didn’t really get a chance to play, Sunderland didn’t either, but we found a way to win the game.

“That’s what we’ve done in every single round so far and that’s why we deserve to be here because, on the night, we’ve competed well and we’ve been the better team.”

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