City U18 2 Newport County U18 3

Sam Tillen.

Sam Tillen was pleased to get more minutes into his players as City U18 continued their pre-season preparations in Bath.

The young Imps lost 3-2 to Newport County in their second pre-season outing, with goals coming from Dan Vanderpuye and Charlie Carlisle.

Tillen said: “We got the opportunity again to get minutes into the legs of the players and saw some things to work on, as well as some very positive performances, which was great from a coaching perspective.”

Tillen was also impressed with the attacking threat his side showed throughout the game, particularly in the second period where he felt they dominated.

“We started very positively and created a number of really good chances. We went 1-0 up after a great team goal before conceding a poor goal from a set piece, which shifted the momentum in the game somewhat.

“We made planned, wholesale changes at half time and the second half was significantly better.

“We were more dominant in the midfield area and Charlie Carlisle scored a well-deserved goal but despite creating a number of good chances and nullifying their attack, we couldn’t get the equaliser we deserved.”

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