We've had to work hard to get to the stage we're at now, says VCD Athletic's George Mitchell

VCD ATHLETIC youth team manager George Mitchell says his side continue their underdog status for their mouth-watering trip to Cheltenham Town in The FA Youth Cup First Round.

The Vickers’ youth side have defeated Tooting & Mitcham United, Horsham and Maidenhead United and travel to the League Two club on Sunday 10 November.

“We’ve had to work hard to get to the stage we’re at now,” said Mitchell, 21, who has signed for Phoenix Sports this season.

“The draw produced tough ties for us in every qualifying round. The first two games, Tooting & Mitcham (away) and Horsham (at home), we’re both against Ryman Youth League opposition and the boys produced great performances to progress further.

“To win 4-1, against a lively Tooting side in the first game was above even our own expectations.  This acted as a great confidence boost for us that we could have a good run in the competition.

“The Horsham game was completely different, however.  We had to fight and put in everything we had to get the result (1-0 courtesy of a Bradley Simms second half strike) as they were a confident side who had expected to win I think.

“Our final qualifying game was away to Maidenhead. We’d had a look at their results beforehand, they were unbeaten so far this season and hadn’t conceded many so we knew we would need something special to go through.

“The game became an even bigger challenge when we lost our goalkeeper, Taylor Humm, to a back injury early on.

“Luckily we had the under 16’s goalkeeper, Charlie Penfold, on the bench who came on to make his debut for us and didn’t look out of place in the slightest, producing some great saves.

“The Maidenhead game was our best performance of the season so far, with us dominating for much of the 120 minutes of the game.  Every single player was excellent and we thoroughly deserved to go through, even if it took a Ricky North penalty to decide the tie in a shoot-out.”

Vickers’ reward is a trip to Whaddon Road to take on former non-league club Cheltenham Town.

“We’re all buzzing!  We were the underdogs going into every qualifying game but that suited us,” added Mitchell.

“Our defending has been superb and has been a great foundation for us to go on and dictate games, playing in a way that suits us.

“The fact that we’re not a college academy side that train together most days speaks volumes about our lads’ attitudes and the effort they put in during training and match days.”

VCD Athletic will therefore be massive underdogs when they play Cheltenham Town.

“We can’t wait!” said Mitchell.  “The whole club is behind us.   We’ve had lots of messages of support and they’re looking forward to it as much as we are.

“Maidenhead played there last year at the same stage and said the facilities and the occasion itself was superb.

“We’re under no illusions of what we’re up against. We know they’re going to be very strong and organised but we’re going to give it a good go.

“Nothing changes for us really. We’ll be underdogs again but will go about our business to try and get something out of the game and hopefully have a bit of luck on our side as well.”

Tony Russell’s first team are presently sitting proudly seventeen points clear at the top of the Ryman League Division One North table, having collected 43 points from 15 games.

The club secured promotion after finishing runners-up in the Kent League to double winners Erith & Belvedere last season.

VCD Athletic thrashed Wroxham 8-0 at Oakwood on Tuesday night and former Thamesmead Town striker Stuart Zanone scored his first goals for the club with a hat-trick.

Mitchell revealed Russell regularly watches his side in action.

He said: “We’re lucky in the fact that we’ve got ability running through our whole squad.  There’s a great chemistry amongst the boys as well, which has got us to this point.

“We haven’t got one stand alone player that we depend upon. There’s a number of players all over the pitch that have it about them to go and win a game for us.

“The club is on the up. Tony’s side are flying at the minute and going from strength-to-strength but he’s often at our games looking out for anyone who can be pushed on, so the opportunities are there for them.

“The under 21’s side are also a strong outfit but as long as our boys keep doing what they’re doing, it’ll only be a matter of time before they progress further, which will be great.”

When asked how difficult it is to attract players to the club, with clubs such as Dartford and Ebbsfleet United on their doorstep, Mitchell said: “We had an idea of the players we wanted to sign and worked hard over the summer to make sure we had everything in place to get who we wanted, but the club sells itself really.

“A Ryman League first team that are only going to improve, a fantastic playing surface and for ourselves, a Kent Youth Premier Division One spot, as well as the chance to play in the FA Youth Cup, so in that sense we knew we’d be able to attract the right players.

“We don’t have the largest of squads, but we know that no matter who we come up against we’ve got enough about us to give them a good game.

“There are also some guys from the under 16’s that have been involved with us recently who will hopefully benefit from the experience of playing above their age group.”

Mitchell added: “The squad are a great group of boys with bags of talent that are predominantly made up of second year 18’s.  We are delighted at the progress we’ve made since we came together in the summer and believe there is still a lot more to come from this team of players.”

Phoenix Sports, meanwhile, are presently sitting in third-place in their inaugural Southern Counties East Football League campaign, having collected seven wins and a draw from their 12 games.

The Barnehurst-based outfit are six points adrift of league leaders Tunbridge Wells.

“I’m currently registered with Phoenix Sports but I’m recovering from an injury that has prevented me from playing any part of the season so far,” said Mitchell.

“I’m gutted not to have been involved in the great start Boyley and Becks (joint-managers Steve O’Boyle and Tony Beckingham) and the guys have had but hopefully I can get back fit soon and help contribute to success they’ve had so far.”

Meanwhile, former VCD Athletic striker Uche Ibemere lasted 84 minutes playing for Conference Premier neighbours Dartford in their 1-0 home win over Ebbsfleet United in The FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round replay on Tuesday night.

Visit VCD Athletic’s website: www.pitchero.com/clubs/vcdathleticfc