Maliq Cadogan boosted by first goal in Swansea City colours

Maliq Cadogan hopes he can kick on after the confidence boost of netting his first goal in Swansea City colours to help the under-21s advance to the quarter-finals of the Nathaniel MG Cup with victory against Cardiff City at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The 19-year-old was previously on the books at Crystal Palace for six years, where he was a regular for their under-18s and under-21s' squads, before joining the Swans this summer.

The hosts were well-deserving of the first-half lead the forward gave them when he finished smartly at the near post after running onto a through ball, before the visitors had Kyle Kenniford sent off after picking up two bookings before half-time.

But, despite numerous opportunities to extend their lead, the young Swans found visiting keeper Jake Dennis in inspired form and Kieron Evans finished off a counter-attacking move to level the scores with 20 minutes to go and ultimately send the tie to penalties. 

The Swans were perfect from the spot, scoring all five of their penalties, while goalkeeper Evan Watts made himself the hero when he saved Finlay Johnson's spot-kick to send the Swans into the next round.

"We knew what kind of game it was going to be, we started off really well in the first half, but then we did slip short," said Cadogan.

"The red card came and the game became compact and narrow, which did make it difficult for us. But we came out with the win in the end.

"With the goal, Wrighty [coach Anthony Wright] and I were speaking about me needing to be confident, I knew it was going to come. I got the opportunity and I took it.

"It's a relief to be fair, putting it into the back of the net. I think now I've got one, hopefully I can go on a roll.

"The fans came down and showed their love to us, which was great, and it gave us a boost that we needed.

"We definitely want to push to go further than the quarter-finals. We want to go for everything, and we'd love to win it."