Anthony Wright | We set ourselves the goal of reaching the final, we showed bravery to get there

Coach Anthony Wright spoke of his pride in the bravery shown by his Swansea City Under-21 side after they reached the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup by beating Cardiff Met on penalties at Landore.

The tie had ended goalless after 90 minutes, and the two sides each scored four of their regulation five penalties.

But Remy Mitchell got down low to his left, as he had done earlier in the shootout to deny Eliot Evans, and pushed away Thomas Vincent's effort to ensure the Swans prevailed 5-4 and advanced to the final later this month.

Wright revealed that he, his staff and the players had set themselves the goal of reaching the final when given a wildcard entry at beginning of the campaign, and he was delighted with the maturity the Swans showed to set up a meeting with TNS or Guilsfield at Jenner Park on January 20.

“The outcome was really important to us. When we reflect we’ll be pleased and the positives out of it, we’ll be grateful that we’ve got through," said Wright.

“Remy [Mitchell] did extremely well in the penalty shootout and we’re in the final, which was our objective at the start of the competition.

“The players were asked who wanted to take penalties and they stepped up, they’ve shown how brave they are to do that.

“This is something we don’t get of enough in academy football, and the boys have stepped up and been so brave. 

“This competition has been brilliant. This is a young group, with an average age of 18.

“It’s great learning for them. We’ve played against men’s teams in most ties.

“We’re all so proud that the boys have got through, and that’s what we set out to do."

Wright also had words of praise for Cardiff Met after the Archers pushed the Swans all the way in a hard-fought contest.

“I thought Cardiff Met were excellent, they went man-to-man all over the pitch and were aggressive with what they did," he added.

“They were on the front foot, and that upset our flow throughout the game. So we want to give a lot of credit to them.

“Their keeper Alex Lang, an ex-academy boy here, made four or five crucial saves that he would have enjoyed making. 

“Early on, we had a few chances which we were disappointed that we couldn’t put them away and then it goes to penalties, and we're delighted we showed the mentality to get through.