Leeds United Under-18s boss Mark Jackson admits that his side found a cruel way to exit the FA Youth Cup last night against Hull City.
Mailik Wilks' first half brace helped Leeds to take a comfortable 2-0 lead over the Tigers and the Whites seemed to be on their way to the third round of the competition until the final few minutes.
Robbie McKenzie's 88th-minute penalty handed Hull a lifeline to cling on to and Lewis Ritson scored in stoppage time to force the second round clash into an extra 30 minutes.
And McKenzie turned out to be the hero for the Tigers when his looping header dropped into Leeds’ net in the 103rd minute to give Hull a lead for the first time in the game.
Leeds forced the Hull goalkeeper into a good save in the final minute of extra time, but the Tigers held on to their lead to move into the third round of the Youth Cup in dramatic fashion.
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Jackson admits that Leeds threw away the game in the final few minutes after controlling the majority of the encounter and feels that once the tie went into extra time, the stamina of his players was expected to be tested.
The Leeds Under-18s boss told LUTV: “[It was] a hell of a cup tie, for those who were watching.
“For those [who were playing] it was cruel; the players are really down. We were in control of the game probably until the 87th minute when they got the goal.
“We spoke about it before the game that whichever game we are playing a team will have a spell and that spell was the second half, but we weathered that.
“We stood up to it and weathered it, but giving that goal away and the penalty away, which was a clumsy challenge. They got the penalty and it gave them that impetus going into the final few minutes and they managed to get the equaliser.
“It was always going to be difficult going into extra time with the kind of injuries, the cramps and the tiredness we were carrying, but so were they.
“But yes, it’s cruel to take.”
