The youngsters have a semi-final of their own to look forward to on Saturday afternoon (3pm)
Hull City coach Mark Beard(Image: Hull City AFC)
Mark Beard cannot wait for Hull City’s Under-18s trip to Charlton Athletic in the Professional Development League play-offs on Saturday, as they look to end a stunning season in some style.
The City youngsters kick off in a single-legged semi-final at The Valley on Saturday afternoon, having become the first Hull City Under-18s side ever to reach the play-offs.
So impressive have Beard’s side been, they also set a new record for total points in a PDL season, breaking the 50-point mark for a first time. The youngsters scored 65 goals in their 28 league games, second only to Northern section table-toppers Wigan Athletic, and notched up 16 wins to cap what was a memorable campaign.
On the other side of the draw, City’s first team play-off opposition on Friday night, Millwall, were beaten by the Latics, with Joe Gelhardt’s brother, Dan, bagging the winner to seal their place in the final later this month.
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“Nobody at the start of the season would have said we would do what we have done. We are proud of them. We have been on a really good run of results and we clicked at the right time, I feel,” Beard said.
“We keep saying to them ‘it is not about winning at this age’. I know from being in winning teams, you get a lot of special memories by winning trophies and being in cup finals. So I promised the lads at the start of the season that if they work as hard they can, do the things that we’re coaching them to do and they could create their own special memories.
“The moment after the game when we secured playoffs was excellent; the feeling in the changing room after is something you want to experience. I think it has been a great learning season for the boys. A lot of them are first years as well, so that puts them in great stead for next season.
“The togetherness of the group, the environment we have created in training, has been exceptional. They are a pleasure to coach. It’s about getting individuals ready for first team football, and I think we have done that.”
They’ll be looking for some revenge, too, having lost 4-1 against the Addicks in the regular season, who came top of the South Division, amassing 63 points from their 28 games, and Beard knows how tough the challenge will be.
“We’ve known for two weeks now that we’ve got Charlton, so we’ve been studying them,” Beard continued. “We watched our game back against them, we watched the teams that have actually beaten them – Watford and Swansea beat them. Charlton have beaten teams four or five-nil most weeks, but we watched those two games really carefully.
“Both Watford and Swansea are very similar to the way we play. So we will set up a game plan for the boys, and then we’ll tell them to just go and enjoy the occasion.
“Sometimes you can put too much pressure on them, and then they don’t play how they normally play, so we are going to make sure we don’t put too much pressure on them so they can just go out and enjoy the occasion.”
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