Last Monday kick-started week 17 of The New Saints Academy’s 46 week 2024/25 season programme.

It was an exciting week with our U19s hosting FK Žalgiris of Lithuania in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday, and our first team playing European giants, Fiorentina, in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday.

Our U19s were supported by over 300 Academy players and their families on Tuesday, which just shows how connected we are from our U8s to our first team. It was also great to see past Academy players who came down to support their former teammates. A massive thank you to our U13s for being ballboys, and to everyone who came down to cheer our lads on.

Thursday evening was a fantastic occasion for the club. Our first-team became the first domestic side to represent Wales in the league phase of a European competition. A special shoutout to Academy players Luke, Jac, Gio and Declan who travelled out to Florence to support the team. It was a valiant effort from our first-team who represented the JD Cymru Premier with distinction.

It was also a proud moment for our Academy Coaches who travelled and got to seeing so many graduates feature in the matchday squad, including Ben Clark who played brilliantly. Not only do we try our best provide our young players with opportunities and experiences, but we trust them on the biggest stage!

Our U11s were also in action against oversees opposition when they hosted a touring side from Australia. It was a tough game for our young Tins and a fantastic opportunity to play against new opposition.

This weekend, we hosted Newtown who are one of the four Category A Academies in Wales. Below is a brief report of how each game unfolded:

U8s – U11s report by Ash Russell

On Saturday, our U8s – U11s showcased their skills against Newtown with some great collective performances. Our players produced some excellent individual and team performances across the games, as they put their understanding of recent training topics into practice with some excellent passing combinations, facing moves in 1v1 situations, and bravery to defend.

Each team worked incredibly hard, scoring some amazing goals in the process, and it was great to see the smiles on their faces. The bravery from players to build, create opportunities to score and find a way out in tight areas was excellent to watch. A fantastic day of football for all involved!

U12s report by Liam Kelleher

The U12s found the first-half quite challenging, as Newtown caused us many problems. We started the second-half excellently scoring four goals in five minutes (Jac Jones x2, Seb Holmes, Oscar Dean). We were excellent throughout the remainder of the half, with all of the players contributing in some way.

We scored another three goals (two from Tom Mroweic and another from Jac Jones) so the matched finished 7-2 in our favour. This group is brilliant because of the amount of players that contribute with goals, and I was so proud of how well they fought back. Well done lads!

U13s report by Liam Kelleher

The U13s started the first-half really well by keeping the ball and controlling possession to limit Newtown. Jamie Humphreys did really well in wider areas to create chances from crossing situations for Cian Davies and Ryan Jones to score, and we finished the half really strongly with a penalty from Kody Salisbury giving us a 3-0 lead.

In the second-half, Newtown come out really well and scored from a corner, but we responded quite quickly with a penalty down the other end scored by Kody Salisbury. Tommy Williams also scored in the second-half, while Kody completed his hat-trick to seal a great performance from himself and his team.

U14s report by Kieran Lee-Birch

On Sunday, our U14s hosted second-placed Newtown. Having recently played Newtown, we were able to do some pre-match analysis, where together we identified some areas to focus on.

Our recent game was really tough because they are so organised out of possession and play some excellent football through the thirds. We raced into a 2-0 lead inside the first four minutes thanks to brilliant team play with Robin and Aron scoring the goals.

Despite a mostly dominant first-half, we had Max to thank for making a good save, along with Leo and Max whose last ditch defending prevented goals. The second-half was more open, which created an entertaining game for everyone watching.

Oli made it 3-0 straight after the break after fantastic work from DT. Newtown replied with two quick-fire goals from a corner and free-kick. After a frustrating couple of minutes, we responded superbly with DT and Robin adding a further three goals. Full-time 6-2 to TNS.

U15s report by Hudson Parry

On Sunday, our U15s travelled up to second-placed Newtown in what was certain to be a tough and competitive fixture. 

The game started out fairly evenly, with both sides looking to take control. A brilliantly worked goal finished by Harry Lloyd in the 5th minute gave us the lead. Following this, we then began to take control of possession, keeping the ball for large spells, and creating more good chances.

Alfie Jones scored an excellent finish with his left foot from outside to box to double our lead. 

In the 50th minute, Reuben made a great run in-behind the Newtown defence and calmly finished into the bottom corner. Eight minutes later, a fantastic cross from Ryan Jones on the right-hand side drifted over the Newtown keeper and into the far corner to make the score 4-0 to TNS.

Newtown scored a good goal on the 70 minute mark but the damage was already done, and the game ended 4-1 to The New Saints. It was a good competitive game of football with both sides creating some good chances, but a clinical TNS side proved too strong on the day. 

U16s report by Greg Draper

Our u16s put on an extremely impressive display against Newtown.

Our lads had to remain extremely patient in possession to try and break down the Newtown defence, especially in the first-half where Newtown defended well, and made it difficult for us with their very low block. 

Once the opening goal arrived late on in the first-half through the ever-dangerous Thomas Broadhurst, the lads settled into the game and played some fast-paced football, which in the second-half, Newtown just couldn’t live with. 

Goals in the second-half were scored by Olli MJ (x2), Oli Large (x2) and Gethin Roberts. 

It was a fantastic overall performance by every single player, and what made it even more pleasing, was seeing the lads at the back show willingness to defend their goal and protect their clean sheet. 

Damian Dziadkowski also pulled off a brilliant save from a long-range effort, managing to get a fingertip to the ball and keep the clean sheet intact. Amazing performance lads, keep it up. 

U19s report by Simon Spender

It was a good performance from our U19s who won 5-0. We created lots of chances in the  first-half, but just couldn’t finish them. Our goals came from Brodie and Tom Blaze. In the second-half, we added another three goals thanks to Lewis, Blayney and Leighton. We looked strong throughout the whole game and played some great football.

 

Another busy week begins tomorrow for our Academy. All age groups have four pitch contacts along with strength + conditioning and analysis contacts.  

 Well done to everyone involved in another positive week of development, opportunities and experiences.