Lincoln Red Imps U18s gain valuable European experience

Lincoln Red Imps’ U18 team faced a steep challenge last Tuesday evening as they took on HŠK Zrinjski Mostar at the Europa Point Stadium in the second leg of the UEFA Youth League.

After a 6-0 defeat in the first leg, coach Ryan Casciaro had little opportunity to test his players, with a lengthy international break and restrictions on playing at Lathbury due to maintenance meaning the team managed just one competitive fixture before their big match.

Casciaro had named a 20-man squad, hoping the team would respond to the challenge of playing in front of their home crowd, which they duly did.

Lincoln Red Imps started well, scoring within the first six minutes through youngster Poggio, whose goal was to surprise the visitors.

Although conceding twice in the first half, with goals from Sunjic and Rodriguez Zentner, the Lincoln Red Imps youngsters were determined to avoid a repeat of the first-leg scoreline.

The visitors enjoyed the majority of possession and created the most chances, recording 25 attempts during the 90 minutes. Lincoln Red Imps conceded a third goal in the 55th minute, but the visitors had to wait until the final 10 minutes to add their fourth, converting a penalty in the 81st minute.

Lincoln were defeated 4-1 on the night and 10-1 on aggregate, in what was another steep learning curve for the young side.

The club, however, as the only Gibraltar club to have qualified for the Youth League, continues to gain experience at European level, providing players with valuable opportunities as they look to break into the senior team.

The costs to the club, however, remain high, with officials having previously indicated that the funding provided by UEFA to compete does not cover the travel costs for a squad. Participation is therefore viewed as an investment in the future, with the benefits coming from the experience gained by the players rather than the financial returns from competing.