Young Saints edge derby

Aldershot Town 0-4 Southampton
The FA Youth Cup, sponsored by E.ON
First Round Proper
7.30pm, Wednesday 4 November 2009
The Recreation Ground, Aldershot Town FC
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Southampton secured local pride and their place in the next round of The FA Youth Cup on Wednesday evening, with a convincing victory at Hampshire neighbours Aldershot Town.

It took the young Saints a while to get going and they held only a single goal lead at the break, but three quickfire goals in eight second half minutes saw them run out firmly on top at the Recreation Ground.

They had to win the battle first though, and Southampton's U18 Coach Dave Puckett was pleased with his team's early application which he believes gave them the foundation for victory.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game and we prepared right for the match," he said afterwards.

"We have a lot of pace in the side and we also feel that we're comfortable on the ball and can adapt to different styles of play but we knew that we would have to be on our game to compete and earn the right to play first."

The opener arrived just before the half-hour mark when a free-kick from the left was headed into his own goal by the unfortunate Ryan Tafazolli, under pressure in the area, and that goal separated the teams at half time.

Ten minutes after the restart and Southampton doubled their lead when Sam Hoskins collected a pass in the area before clinically slotting home and then Callum McNish smashed a third goal in on the hour.

Three minutes later and it was four, as left-back Sam Argent advanced forward before hitting a 25 yard strike past the exposed Shots goalkeeper to ensure his team's passage into the Second Round Proper.

"It's a big opportunity to play in this competition, under the floodlights and on a senior pitch and a lot of people are loooking to see who the next batch of players coming through are," added Pickett.

"The tradition and history of the competition is there for all to see, with many players doing well in it, cacthing the eye and going on to have good careers.

"We hope that a few of our players can go on and do that in our first team and there are a few who have definietly caught the eye tonight."

Watch the full highlights of the game now, by clicking on the video icon above.