It was boys against men, claims Brittain
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ROSS County’s academy team boss Richard Brittain suggested that nothing should be read into his young side’s 3-1 loss to Wick Academy as it was literally boys versus men.
With the oldest members of the Staggies XI being not more than 18, Brittain’s young charges seemed to fade in the second half while the Scorries grew stronger.
At first glance it seemed like the visitors had run out of steam only for Brittain to suggest a mere factor of biology was at work.
He said: “I think you’ve got to look at the physicalities of both teams. Our boys were playing against men. One of the lads is 15 years old.
“I wouldn’t say we ran out of steam but we were up against a team of men who are more physically developed.
“A boy is never going to be able to compete with an adult for a sustained period of time during the first game of pre-season so I’m not concerned about the fitness difference.”
However, Academy co-assistant manager Ross Suttar suggested that Wick’s intensive pre-season training played a key role in their victory and refuted the physicality argument, saying that Ross County’s youngsters have access to more footballing advantages than the Scorries.
He said: “We’ve had a very intensive three weeks working on our fitness and it paid off. You saw the lads still have plenty in the tank right up to the end of the game.
“You could argue that our physicality won on the day as they’ve got young lads and most of our team are fully-grown adults.
“But you have to remember their youngsters are full-time professionals training five or six days a week. They probably have about 12 sessions a week with gym sessions, ball work, sports science, tactics, etc. Compared to ourselves, with players fitting in training sessions after work, we knew this would be a hard game.”
Suttar also said he was surprised that referee Gordon Seago let the two teams play in their first-choice kits given the obvious colour clash. Matters were resolved when Wick offered to change into their yellow tops.
He added: “We were very surprised that the ref let the colour clash go ahead. For 10 minutes, the players felt they were giving balls away, missing passes, and that goalmouth scramble was the final straw before we asked the officials for a change.
“I think the fans were relieved, given the round of applause we were getting for changing shirts. I think Ross County were happy with that decision as well.”
