Jimmy Phillips says that he is proud of the Wanderers U18s team following their run through to the Milk Cup final in their first appearance at the tournament.

The Academy Manager watched on from the sidelines in Ballymena, where the youngsters were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Senegalese team Etoile Lusitana.

Phillips said: "The boys have been a credit to the club over the last week.

"We had a younger squad than most of the teams and we played some really good football. The fact that we have played five games in as many days probably caught up with the lads in the end.

"But we put in a great effort and Luke Woodland's goal certainly set up an interesting end to the game. James Caton had a chance to grab an equaliser and on another day he would have probably knocked it in.

"I heard the Lusitana coach say in an interview after the game that he had only had six months to prepare his team.

"David (Lee) and Tony (Kelly) only had three weeks, of which ten days was spent on conditioning work, so it has been a great achievement to get to the final."

Wanderers travelled over to Northern Ireland with a younger squad than most competing teams.

There were just four second year scholars in the 18-man contingent, and Phillips believes that the experience gained by all involved will stand the team in good stead.

Phillips added: "We had four U16 players on the pitch at the end, which was good to see. It shows that our coaching is hopefully paying off and this is the way we want to proceed.

"Last season we started the Academy league well and were top around October time. But a lot of second years got called into the reserves and that broke up the squad.

"Now that the U16s and first years have got this experience, hopefully then can carry it into the league season."