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Academy Notes: Josh Laqeretabua

Charlton Athletic U18s defender Josh Laqeretabua spoke to Valley Gold for Academy Notes after the recent 1-0 defeat at Coventry City in the Semi-Final of the Professional Development League Cup.

The centre-back arrived on trial at U8 level, before signing at U9 level can play in both centre back spots and likes to play out from the back as well as absorb attacks. Speaking about the 1-0 loss, he told Valley Gold:

“We started a bit slow as a whole and found it hard to play football and keep the ball on the deck. The pitch was rough and bobbly, so we had to try to make sure our first touches were on point however it was easier said than done.

“After just 5 minutes, we gave away a sloppy freekick on the edge of our box, and originally the freekick was blocked but Coventry reacted quickly to the 2nd ball and an unmarked man pounced onto the loose ball and volleyed it to the top right of Ahmed Kone. Finding it hard to get back into the game, it felt like we were playing their game, getting into 50/50 challenges. However, on the left-hand side, Tyreece Campbell seemed to have the better of their right back so we attempted to get him on the ball as often as we could.

“With the first half coming to an end, Miles Leaburn received a bobbly cross from the right-hand side and smashed it down the middle of the goal forcing the keeper to make a quick reaction save, and somehow managed to tip the ball over the bar. The first half as a whole was very rough, and the ball was transferred to each team a fair amount of times like a basketball match however we started to get the better of them in the final 10 minutes before half-time.

“Going into the second half steaming and ready to go, we got off to a great start, hunting in groups and putting some great passages together. We had got used to the pitch a bit more and we started playing our football. Playing it around the back, switching it from side to side and playing through the middle, we seemed to really want it more and was fighting for 2nd balls harder than in the first half. We had a few chances where we could’ve got ourselves back into the game but we somehow didn’t.

“In addition to our missed chances, they kept control of the game by diving at every possible opportunity. Towards the end of the game, we tried to bring on some extra force going forward, and although we fought well and tried our best to revive the game for ourselves, we just couldn’t find a way back in the game.

“Congratulations to Coventry and good luck to them in the final.”

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