Charlton Athletic U18s midfielder Karoy Anderson spoke to Valley Gold for Academy Notes after the recent 2-0 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Youth Cup.
The 17-year-old has been at Charlton for 9 years and believes by coming up through the age groups he has developed in all aspects as a footballer and as a person. During his first few years at the Academy, he played as a deep midfielder, mostly defensively, but now as a scholar, he is playing as a box to box midfielder. He told Valley Gold:
“The team didn’t start as well as we would’ve liked out of possession, but in possession we posed a dangerous threat going forward. We seemed to get a great amount of joy down the left-hand side of the pitch where Tyreece Campbell relentlessly beat their right back. As a result, we managed to get multiple crosses across the face of the goal but didn’t have the final touch to put it in the back of the net.
“As a team, we got a lot of joy from playing defence through to attack but one of the Brighton players had managed to cut out a pass that was heading to Miles Leaburn which caught us out of position and vulnerable to the counterattack. Although Zach Mitchell had tried his utmost best to block the shot, the Brighton striker’s shot from 12 yards out beat Ahmed Kone with a slight deflection.
“For the next 10 minutes, Brighton had a strong spell going forward, firing countless shots at the Charlton Goalkeeper but Ahmed Kone pulled off a bundle of tremendous saves from close range and afar.
“After weathering the storm, the Addicks began to pick up momentum by combining down both sides with the likes of Daniel Kanu, Nathan Asiimwe, Tyreece Campbell and Toby Bower. A number of final third entries were made by the Reds but we struggled to finish the attacks as Tyreece Campbell hit the post on a few occasions and Miles Leaburn was unlucky not to convert a delicious cross from Tyreece. Nevertheless, we managed to create multiple chances with Tyreece Campbell finding himself 1 on 1 with their last man on a counter-attack from a Brighton corner. He had Harvey Kedwell making up ground to support him, but he trusted his blistering pace to beat the defender, and as he glided past the last Brighton defender, he was so unlucky to have struck the post. Kedwell attempted to gather the rebound but after multiple attempts at goal, the ball trickled out for a goal kick.
“The second half began with the Addicks starting extremely quickly, eager to make a change to the scoreline. From an out of possession point of view, it was much more aggressive which led to the Brighton players giving away corners and throw-ins within their half. We continued to find joy down the left side where Tyreece Campbell had the beating of the full-back so the midfield three of Jason Adigun, Harvey Kedwell and myself attempted to feed him as much as possible, but it seemed to be a repeat of the first half where we just couldn’t find that finishing touch.
“As a result of this, Brighton worked the ball wide to their left-back who managed to deliver a cross for their striker who slotted it past Kone making it 2-0. This wasn’t a reflection of Ahmed’s performance as he hurled away many shots from the Brighton attack and looked unbeatable. Introductions of Ryan Huke, Sahid Kamara and Ollie Hobden gave us a boost of energy and continued to apply pressure and create chances, but the low block of Brighton managed to keep us quiet.
“The match finished in a 2-0 loss for the Addicks in the 5th round of the FA Youth Cup where we arguably deserved more from the game but nonetheless, the team were proud of the campaign and are extremely excited to return to the league and two other additional cup competitions.”
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