U18s pay price for missed chances

Swansea City Under-18s paid the price for missed chances against Ipswich Town as they were edged out 2-1 on Saturday at Fairwood.

The young Swans' five-game unbeaten run came to an end as Jamie Latham's 42nd minute opener was cancelled out only a minute later before Ipswich doubled their tally seven minutes into the second period.

Latham put the Swans in front, three minutes before the midway point, with a clinical finish after an excellent probing run deep beyond the visitors' back line.

But the the home side then conceded just a minute later before Ipswich took the lead in the 52nd minute, which turned out to be enough to secure all three points for the visitors, despite the numerous attempts the Swans had to get back in the game.

Speaking after the fixture, youth team coach Cameron Toshack believes his side could have won the game, had they took the opportunities that came their way.

"We created many chances that we as a group would expect to make count," explained Toshack. "I'm sure that, in the future, if we were to have the same 14 chances as we had today, we would convert at least four.

"With that said, it is part of the group's development to understand you do not always get what you deserve in football. 

"Again, it was a similar story to recent matches against the likes of Millwall and Brentford where we felt we should have won but came away with draws.

"We let ourselves down in the second-half as we chased the game and became disorganised, rather than implementing what we had worked on during previous weeks.

"The pleasing thing, from a strategic point of view, is that the players have taken on board a number of changes since Christmas which, when they apply to their game situations, makes them both more difficult to beat along with being a greater threat going forward. 

"The next test is about how we react as individuals and as a team in the coming weeks as we look forward to a set of competitive matches."