Joe Dunne's Colchester United youngsters were still on cloud nine today after reaching the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup for the first time in the club's history.
The U's under-18s battled their way to a 3-2 extra-time defeat of Cardiff City at Layer Road last night.
It was a monumental performance from the U's apprentices against an Academy side and one in which every player showed true character.
The home side did not play to the best of their ability for most of the first hour, but courage and determination shone through to come from a goal behind to make it 2-1 in the second half.
And, despite conceding a late equaliser in stoppage-time at the end of normal time, Dunne's boys excelled themselves in extra-time to secure a memorable win on a wet and blustery evening.
The goal heroes were Stephen Opoka, Russell Pond and Richard Harris, but Dunne was proud of all of his players, who will now go on to visit Crewe Alexandra in the next round.
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Published Friday, January 21, 2005
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