City's Youngsters Did The Club Proud, Says Petty
- Leicester City finished as runners-up in the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens Shield on Sunday
- The young Foxes beat Brighton & Hove Albion in the semi-finals, but lost out to Wolves
- Under-23s coach Ben Petty says there are several positives to draw from the trip
- Petty was particularly enthused by the progress made by the Club's younger players
City won Group B on Saturday with wins over Singapore Cricket Club and Aston Villa and, while they exited the Main Cup at the last-eight stage, their journey continued in the Shield.
An impressive 4-2 success over Brighton & Hove Albion, however, was followed by a narrow 2-1 extra-time defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees.
Leicester in fact ended the competition unbeaten in normal time with two matches, losses to Rangers and Wolves, being settled by a four-a-side ‘sudden death’ passage of extra-time.
Speaking afterwards, Petty was delighted with the progress made by the Club’s youngsters in the frenetic, seven-a-side tournament, staged at Hong Kong Football Club in the stunning Happy Valley district.
“It’s hard not to be really disappointed after today because ultimately we’ve lost two games on four-v-four,” the Under-23s coach told LCFC TV. “We haven’t actually been beaten in normal time.
“For probably the youngest team we’ve ever brought to Hong Kong, the most inexperienced team we’ve ever brought… I thought the lads brought into it and they were fantastic.”
Petty was also pleased to have the opportunity to work with several players from the Club’s Under-18s squad, many of whom impressed greatly when called upon in challenging conditions.
“Steve [Beaglehole] and I have had the chance to find out more about the scholars and hopefully they’ll have a big part to play in our Under-23s campaign next season,” he added.
“It’s about building all the time. I think we’ve seen some fine performances: Conor Tee’s been excellent, Dennis Gyamfi has been a real plus and so has Luke Thomas.
“Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been an excellent captain for us too so there's a lot to be happy with over the week. The lads have done themselves proud and the Club proud.”