Young Anchors midfielder Jaedon Faulkner provided his reaction following an appearance in the Durham Challenge Cup victory against Hebburn Town.
Jaedon was a second-half substitute in the game, and he opened by explaining his delight of seeing first team action after a mega FA Youth Cup run with the Under 18’s: “It’s quite surreal to be honest. I was at a good point in my career in the academy at Middlesbrough, but after being dropped out of there, I’ve wanted to show that I have got more than what I showed, and now at Stockton we’ve had a lot of success over the last few years at youth levels, and just being in the first team now is an amazing feeling for me.”
Faulkner, who had scored five penalties for the U18’s in their Youth Cup campaign, slotted in a perfect penalty during the shootout, and speaking on that, says: “I put myself forward for it. I knew I had the capability of scoring, I don’t miss from the penalty spot, but to be honest as soon as I said I’d take one I did feel a little bit sick straight away.”
The 17-year-old now has the chance to make a breakthrough into the first team, after really impressing with his talents in the U18’s squad, he looks ahead to that possibility by saying: “It’s a good chance now with a couple of injuries in the squad, I believe I’ve shown a lot of what I’ve got to offer in the Youth Cup against higher quality players, and I work really hard every time I’m involved with anything and hopefully that can be recognised and get into the team, and help them out.”
