Monday, September 30th
Slimbridge u18s manager, Kieran Brice-Ingles wants to rewrite history in the FA Youth Cup as the Swans prepare to face Cirencester Town u18s on Tuesday night.
Brice-Ingles and his Swans side are gearing up for their Second Qualifying round tie at The Corinium Stadium hoping to extend their already impressive run in the cup.
3-2 wins against both Gloucester City u18s and Bristol Manor Farm u18s during the Preliminary and First Qualifying rounds helped set up this enticing tie which Brice-Ingles says has got everyone excited around the club.
“As a club we’re buzzing.
“It’s a game where I know the other manager, I’ve spoken to them quite a bit and we had a really good game in pre-season against them coming out with a draw.
“The boys always seem to step up in the bigger games, like Gloucester City and Manor Farm, where they reacted well to going behind.
“I back us again to go the distance but then again, I don’t want to jinx anything,” Brice-Ingles said.
An added incentive looms over the Swans as they prepare for this game knowing that a win would see them equal their best run in the cup reaching the Third Qualifying Round.
The last time the young Swans reached that far was back in 2019 when they travelled to Bath City and narrowly excited the competition suffering a 1-0 defeat.
But reaching the Third Qualifying round is just the tip of the iceberg for the manager who, along with his players, wants to go even further and create a new piece of history.
“It’s in the back on my mind, let alone the players, which it shouldn’t be because it’s all about improving the boys we have here.
“The club are really excited for this group of lads. It wasn’t the start we imagined in the league, but we want to set a record in the history book.
“You’ve got Tom Hitchings doing the double a couple of years ago, then Adam Coyle and Tom Deakin the first team managers, they’ve set this youth system up to be successful.
“We as a group want to continue that and, like I said, if we can stamp our names in the book where we’ve gone furthest or matched it, then everyone will look back and see how good of a side we really were,” he said
Adding to the magnitude of the event, this tie has become the only all Gloucestershire tie left in the competition with fellow Gloucestershire sides Hartpury University u18s and Forest Green Rovers u18s facing opponents elsewhere.
Being the only all Gloucestershire tie left in the cup, Brice-Ingles believes it is showing the increasing quality of Gloucestershire sides and hopes his side relish the occasion.
“It shows how strong Gloucestershire sides are getting.
“It’s not just Cirencester and us but you look at Fairford, I know they’re a bit further away but their still within our region, and they’ve gone far travelling to Brixham in the competition and getting a win.
“For us and Cirencester it’s massive. You can somewhat call this a derby because of how close we are it’s just know which side is going to go the furthest?
“We’re hoping that side will be us, and it will be in the back of our minds that we want to be the furthest Gloucestershire side left in the competition,” he said.
