'LOSS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE'

Tuesday 16 March 2010, 23:23
by Paul Dargan @YourEverton

Academy coach Neil Dewsnip said that Tuesday's semi-final defeat at Skelmersdale United was 'a great learning experience' for his young side.

The Blues went down 2-0 to Tommy Lawson's side as a goal in each half ended their chances of reaching an all-Merseyside final with Liverpool.

Despite the obvious negative of the reverse, Dewsnip says that the players will take a lot from the game for the future, playing against an older and more experienced opposition.

He told evertonfc.com: "It was disappointing to lose the game obviously - we don't want to lose games, that's for sure. But it will serve as a great learning experience in that the lads have made two mistakes in the game and they've led to the two goals.

"I thought Skem were well organised and played very competitively and we made two mistakes and they punished us both times - we were naive in that respect and we'll need to work on that.

"But there are so many advantages really and you can't substitute experience, but it will teach the lads the level we want them to play with a game against older players."

The Under 18s are back to league action at the weekend as they try to keep their place at the top of the table against Middlesbrough.

They travel up to the North East on Saturday and will hope to come away with a similar result to the one they achieved when beating Boro in the third round of the FA Youth Cup in December.

Check back to evertonfc.com for coverage of the game.