Darren Davies | The scoreline was harsh on us

Swansea City Under-18s head coach Darren Davies felt the final scoreline had been harsh on his side after they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Cardiff City in the Premier League Cup.

Thanks to a Japhet Mpadi brace and a fine finish from Joel Colwill from the spot, the Bluebirds extended their lead at the top of Group A, whilst the Swans’ academy side are still seeking their first point in the competition.

The Swans fell behind in the 10th minute as Mpadi fired home for the visitors, the home side responded well but were made to pay for not making the most of a good spell as Mpadi scored his second of the afternoon. 

The Bluebirds sealed the win as they were rewarded a penalty in the 73rd minute as Joel Colwill was brought down in the box, the striker then converted from the spot to triple Cardiff's advantage. 

But the Swans saw plenty of the ball and created plenty of opportunities, only to fail to capitalise.

“I don’t think it was a 3-0 game, in fairness. I thought we dominated for 50 to 55 minutes, we didn't deserve the 3-0," said Davies. 

“The boys tried implementing everything that we had spoken about in the last week, about maintaining possession and being patient in possession.

“We’ve conceded one playing out in the back, and we accept that, we need to be better at that. The second goal, they caught us in transition and the third goal was a penalty.

“If you actually analyse the performance, we were decent for 60 minutes. But I will say we tried implementing everything for a good hour.

“The final half-hour became very scrappy, a bit sloppy and we lost a bit of shape and structure. This is something we will look at and analyse before our next game.”

And Davies was also pleased with how his players continued to show the courage to continue to play their way and push to get back into the game.

“In the DNA of any football club, you don’t give up, our reaction to their opening goal was good," Davies added. 

“As part of the youth development we work on things within the week for them to try and implement them on the weekend. For 60 minutes, we did that.

“Iwan Morgan goes through one on one at 1-0 down, and that could have taken the game in a different direction.

“We try and play at a higher intensity; we’re trying to play with a high press. So, at this moment in time, the boys can’t maintain this intensity for 90 minutes.

“We need to get them to a point to where they can keep that intensity up for 90 minutes, both in and out of possession.”

Swansea City Under-18s are back in league action next Saturday, as they take on Ipswich Town Under-18s at Landore Training ground (11am).