Cardiff Met will look to end their UEFA Youth League adventure on a high on Wednesday night as they host Norwegian side Stabæk at Cyncoed Stadium (KO 19:45).
Jack Lyons’ side made history last month as they became the first Welsh club to progress through the opening round of the competition following their 4-1 aggregate win over UNA Strassen of Luxembourg.
However, the young Archers suffered an 8-0 defeat in the first leg of their second round tie against Stabæk in Bekkestua last week, and head into Wednesday’s match playing for pride and the opportunity to make more history with a positive result.
Harrison Matthews and Karl Stenson-Browne both featured for Cardiff Met in the defeat against a Stabæk side that included a number of Norwegian U19 internationals, and the pair reflected on the experience earlier this week.
“It’s obviously not a good feeling losing 8-0 but we’re just kind of focused on this game,” said Stenson-Browne. “We want to try to lessen the blow a little bit and end on a high because the experience on the whole has been good.”
“The good thing about football is we’ve got another game to put it right,” added Matthews. “Obviously, the mood was low [after the first leg], but I don’t think we deserve to lose by that many. I don’t think they’ve seen the best of Cardiff Met, but now we’re at home I think we need to show our best and really go for it.”
Almost 1,000 fans were in attendance at Cyncoed for the opening match of the campaign as Met claimed an impressive 4-0 win over UNA Strassen. Despite the scale of the challenge on Wednesday, the club are planning another big event with live music, food vendors and even the opportunity of a free hair cut!
“The support was huge,” said Matthews. “I think as a player it boosts you a little bit. You tend to run that a little bit more when the fans are so loud and you’ve got so much support from your friends and family. I think that’s probably why we did so well in the first match.”
Head coach Jack Lyons also spoke to the media on Monday ahead of what will be another memorable night for his side and an opportunity to avenge the disappoint of last week.
“The game was tough, but we’re looking forward to Wednesday,” explained Lyons. “It’s not very often the lads get to go and play in Europe at home here at Cyncoed, so we just have to go and enjoy it. We pride ourselves on working extremely hard. Yes, the result was difficult, but you could not question the application and the effort.
“We’ve already highlighted moments from the game where a lot of other teams would have not run as hard, would have not continued to do the right things. And sometimes it was just probably a representation of the quality of the opposition that we’re playing against. No way did they let anyone down.”
Although their chances of turning around an eight-goal deficit are extremely slim, this European campaign has been a huge positive for the club. One of only five Category A academies in the whole of Wales, competing on the European stage has raised standards on and off the field and provided a strong foundation for the future.
“We’ve just experienced our most successful year of players progressing into our first-team environment, securing professional contracts and beginning their academic journeys at Cardiff Metropolitan University,” explained Director of Football Dr Chris Baker to BBC Sport Wales recently.
“That, for me, is the real measure of our success. Our distinctive dual-career model is central to everything we’re trying to build here. We want to establish a high-performing pathway that consistently develops dual-career athletes capable of making a meaningful impact at first-team level.”
However, the immediate focus is very much on their next UEFA Youth League challenge.
“It’s the furthest any Welsh team has got and the team we’re playing against are at a very, very good level,” added Lyons. “It will take time for the players to realise what they’ve done, and probably us as staff as well.
“We’ve said to the lads, you won’t really know how good this Stabæk team are until potentially years down the line. It’s European football and it doesn’t happen very often, and the players deserve people to come and watch them play on Wednesday with what they’ve put in.”