On Sunday, Sunderland under-15s became the third academy side of the season to receive national recognition.
Following in the footsteps of the under-13s and under-14s – who won the Premier League International Tournament earlier this year – Paul Bryson’s young Black Cats went all the way in the Floodlit Shield to round off a fine season.
Goals from Louis Watts, Ryan Bruce, Ryan Gooch and Dan Jones sealed a 4-0 win for Sunderland against Colchester United at Loughborough University.
And speaking to safc.com, lead coach Bryson hailed his side’s achievement in the East Midlands.
Paul, another fine weekend for the academy! Just talk us through what happened…
PB: “It was a great performance. We played really well and the facilities were great down there at Loughborough. The lads rose to the occasion. We were a bit cagey in the first 10 minutes. Their left back represents England and their wide right player seemed as though he was going to be a threat so we got to grips with it and after the first 10 we put in a really good performance. It was as good a performance as I’ve seen from this group all season. We have ended the season and I’m just delighted for the lads. All the lads played their part, they were dominant and we had a few chances to extend the lead further.”
What do you think this says about the academy, especially when you take into consideration the under-13s and under-14s success as well?
PB: “It is a really good crop of age groups. In the past we have had one or two but with a number of teams in our academy we seem to have a good nucleus. There are seven or eight, maybe even more, that look promising. They will create a good team and that’s how you will win games and win tournaments.”
So where do we go from here? What’s the next step for these lads?
PB: “The big thing now is that it doesn’t get easier. It gets harder. As coaches we can only keep ramming it home that it just gets harder. They need to keep focused and help them along the way. The under-15s know it is a big year next year. They can enjoy the next month but when pre-season starts they have to hit the ground running. They have got all the facilities here and psychologically we just need to get into them, keep asking them questions and keep raising the standards.”