Under-23s given warning by Williams

The development group lifted the Gloucestershire Senior Challenge Cup after their 4-2 success over the non-leaguers at Oaklands Park.

However, they were indebted to Jonny Smith’s trickery and Opi Edwards’ finishing in the first half to get over the line.

“I thought the overall performance was poor – it was very disappointing," Williams told bcfc.co.uk.

“We probably got away with it because a few of our talented players performed. The opposition gave us a problem and made it difficult, but we weren’t good enough.

“For 45 minutes Jonny was very difficult to play against, with his pace and his delivery – it was outstanding. Opi ran into the box, which is something he didn’t do last week (in a 2-1 defeat against the Armed Forces). He got two goals from doing that.

“It was just scrappy and we never really took control of the game like I would want us to. We rode our luck.

“If we perform like that in the league then we’ll lose a lot of games and that’s not good for confidence or progression.”

The Under-23s return to action in a pre-season friendly at Taunton Town this evening (7.45pm).