The U18 side recorded a well-deserved draw in their last outing as they played out a 2-2 stalemate with Lincoln City on Saturday afternoon at Chapel Road in the final group game of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
It was the Young Latics who opened the scoring early on through Under 16, Kane Badby, however a goal mid-way through the first-half and one early on in the second-half gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. Fortunately for Latics a late penalty strike from Lewis McKinney rescued a well-earned point.
Despite the late fightback the point wasn’t enough for Latics to progress to the next round of the competition, however manager, Danny Cadamarteri remained positive and praised the players he had brought in for the cup clash.
"We kind of knew it was going to be an uphill task to get through to the next round, and we saw it as an opportunity to give minutes to lads and let the players express themselves and show that they can come into the team at some point as well which they did for most parts."
He added: "We said in the changing room that other than Lewis McKinney and Ryan Pickford, the lads here will be the majority of the Youth Team next year so it was an opportunity to see that as well."
One player who Cadamarteri was extremely pleased with was goalscorer, Badby.
"We’ve been really pleased with Kane all season, he’s a young lad and only an under 16 but we’ve got him involved quite a lot and he’s adapted really well.
"He had great energy about his play, worked his socks off and that’s a massive strength to have."
Looking forward, the Under 18’s now have an important fixture next as they travel to Curzon Ashton in the Second Round of the FA Youth Cup, and Cadamarteri gave his thoughts on the local tie.
"It will be a tough game for us, Curzon are a good direct side and they’ve got lads in there who know a lot of our lads and they’ll have a point to prove.
"From their point of view the pressure will be on us. We are the big dogs if you like and they’ll see themselves as the underdogs, so we’re going to go there with confidence from the last round and hopefully pick up a result."