Young Swans bow out of Metropolitan Cup

The Under-19s bowed out of the Metropolitan Cup following a penalty shoot-out defeat against JL Zwane on Saturday.

The squad progressed to the knockout stage following a 1-1 draw against the University of Stellenbosch earlier in the day.

After going behind after four minutes, the Swans looked to be heading out of the competition as the South African side held firm with the clock ticking.

However, Cai Owens popped up with five minutes to play to volley home and send the side through to the last 16.

This meant a knockout tie against the winners of Group B, JL Zwane, who came through a tough qualifying campaign to reach this year's tournament.

But it was the Swans who started on the front foot as Brandon Griffiths drilled a left-foot shot wide of goal after just three minutes.

Aaron Lewis then saw a speculative half volley dip a fraction wide of the right-hand upright, while Griffiths forced the Zwane keeper into a smart save at his near post.

Despite their dominance, it was the South African side that took the lead just before half time as the Swans again had to come from a goal down.

The Swans quickly set about getting on level terms and grabbed a deserved equaliser six minutes after the restart as Liam Edwards capitalised on poor defending to slot home.

And with ten minutes to play the game turned on its head as Kyle Copp scored a stunning overhead kick in what looked to be the winning goal.

But in a cruel twist, a twice-taken free kick in the final minute saw Zwane grab an equaliser to send the contest into extra time.

And with the two teams cancelling each other out, it was left to the lottery of penalties to decide who would reach the last eight.

Following two misses apiece in the regulation shoot-out, both teams scored their next two spot kicks before Cameron Gilchrist saw his effort saved.

That allowed Zwane to step up and convert their final penalty and win 6-5 to book their place in the quarter-finals.

SWANS U19s: Lewis Thomas, Ben Jones (Kieran Evans), Joe Rodon, Cameron Gilchrist, Cai Owens, Dylan Thomas, Jamie Latham, Kyle Copp, Aaron Lewis, Brandon Griffiths (Dan James), Liam Edwards (Liam Cullen).