Duncan and Williams on 'indescribable' Youth Cup win
Bobby Duncan and Rhys Williams revelled in the 'indescribable' feeling of helping Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup.
The young Reds overcame Manchester City 5-3 on penalties after the two sides could not be separated over 120 tense minutes at City's Academy Stadium.
After the hosts took the lead in first-half stoppage time through Nabil Touaizi, Duncan levelled with a long-range equaliser in the 86th minute to take his tally to 32 goals for the season.
Captain Paul Glatzel then scored the winning spot-kick as Barry Lewtas’ team claimed the club’s first Youth Cup title since 2007.
Post-match, Duncan and Rhys Williams, who was his usual commanding self at centre-back, spoke to Liverpoolfc.com. Read on for their reaction...
On lifting the Youth Cup…
Duncan: "It’s indescribable to be honest. There were mixed emotions throughout the game because we were 1-0 down, but to come back and win on penalties was unbelievable. It took us a while to get started but I thought we had more hunger, determination and more drive than them. We were in Dallas when this game got arranged so I think that added fuel to the fire for us and we wanted to get it over the line and win the game.”
Williams: "We are over the moon. It’s been 10 years since we got to a final but to get here and win it against such a good team, it shows our character. The desire we have got as a team with the quality up front is what we are about. You look at Bobby who hasn’t had a sniff all game and he gets that one chance and scores, it shows the quality in this team.”
On the half-time message from manager Lewtas…
Williams: "After half-time the momentum shifted [towards us]. Barry told us we were too far off them and we needed to get into their faces and be more aggressive and that's what we did. They tried to make it hard for us but we overcame the odds. Full credit to our lads. Their fans were loud throughout the game but to come through it like we did shows great character. We saw a few of their players lying down with cramp and we have fit players like Abdi Sharif and Elijah Dixon-Bonner who run all day for the team.”
Duncan on his dramatic equaliser against his former club…
"You know what, the ball they use in the FA Youth Cup are different to the ones we use [in U18s Premier League] and when I took the shot I knew it would move. Luckily for me and for us it went in the back of the net. It was a special moment. Some people might say it was written but I just think it’s down to the team. It was down to our grit and determination.”
On the shootout…
Duncan: “I was down to take our sixth penalty if we needed it. The boys have got some bottle to do that.”
Williams: “I didn’t want to look to be honest but I had to! Fair credit to the boys, they did it, they had ice in their veins and they stuck the penalties away perfectly.”
On the spirit in the squad…
Duncan: "To work with all these lads is just amazing. The banter in the changing room, everybody is level-headed, there’s no egos and we all want to do well for each other.”
Williams: “Our target at the start of the season was to win the FA Youth Cup, win the league and the Premier League Cup. Unfortunately we got knocked out of the Premier League Cup but to win this one, the biggest tournament in youth football, shows how good a team we are and hopefully we can go and win the league as well.”