THERE were plenty of lessons to be learnt as New College Academy lost 4-1 to Gloucester City in their first –ever FA Youth Cup tie.

It was always going to be a tough ask for the student side, whose first team play in Hellenic League Division One West, against a Gloucester side, whose first team play in Conference North.

Three first half goals from the hosts put them in control of the game and although New College started the second half brightly and eventually got a goal back when Alex Fenton scored from a free-kick it was not enough for the visitors.

“We didn’t start very well and they dominated the first 35 to 40 minutes of the game,” said Howell.

“They were physically strong and we were only a young side so we didn’t cope very well with that part of the game.

“We started brightly in the second half and had a couple of early opportunities, if we had taken one of them it might have been a different story.

“It is a new venture for us going into these cups and we have a young side who will learn a lot from these type of games.

“We had a lot of first years playing, from a confidence point of view it is not great but it will give them a taste for it and next year they will be in a better position for it.

“It is something different for them going to an away game in midweek, most of them play Sunday afternoon and are not used to playing under floodlights, in front of a crowd.

“At the moment though it is disappointing, it was a big step up for us and hopefully they will take a lot from this experience.”