Jon Beale | We gave ourselves too much work to do

Swansea City Under-18s' head coach Jon Beale admitted his side had given themselves too much to do after a battling fightback fell short in their Professional Development League Cup semi-final defeat at Luton Town.

First-half goals from Hatters forwards Dawid Gawel and Kayden Passley-James gave the hosts a two-goal cushion going into the break in what was a difficult opening 45 minutes for Swansea.

However, the visitors came flying out of the blocks in the second half, scoring twice in quick succession through a Harlan Perry penalty and a Kaven Bloniarczyk finish to draw level.

Luton quickly regained the advantage though, with Passley-James grabbing his second of the afternoon from a set-piece to restore the hosts’ lead.

Swansea continued to push forward in search of another equaliser, but a late header from Kyron Roberts-Edema ultimately sealed victory for the Hatters and confirmed their place in the final.

Beale praised the character his side showed after the break, and believes the result could have been different on another day, but acknowledged the slow start ultimately proved costly.

“It was a performance of two halves," said Beale.

“I thought in the first half we lacked a bit of intensity and purpose, and we were quite predictable in our play, which we spoke about before the game as being something we couldn’t allow to happen. 

"To be fair to Luton, we knew that if we didn’t have that pace and quality in our game, we would play into their hands.

“The first two goals were avoidable and we could have dealt with the situations a lot better, which is why it’s disappointing to concede them. We’re giving teams a head start and that’s something we need to work on.

“I couldn’t fault the boys in the second half. To go in two goals down and respond the way we did, bringing it level so quickly, was really pleasing. It felt like we were gaining real momentum, but then we conceded an unfortunate goal. 

"On another day the cross falls straight into Tom Wright’s hands instead of coming back off the bar, and a couple of moments just didn’t go our way.

“Even when we went 3-2 down we still had chances, and on another day we might have found another equaliser and it could have been a different story. But ultimately we probably gave ourselves too much to do after the first-half performance."