DAN WILSON was pleased that his York City under-19’s side have ‘loads to learn’ after suffering late heartbreak in the National League Alliance Cup final at St George’s Park, in a 1-0 defeat to Maidstone United.

The York Head of Youth Development was impressed by his side’s performance despite the final result, but felt that the youngsters lacked that clinical touch in the opposition box, with Riley Court’s 95th minute free-kick condemning City to defeat.

But for the experience of playing at England’s St George’s Park and for brilliantly reaching back-to-back cup finals, Wilson expects his side to bounce back and take in lessons from a spirited performance from the young Minstermen.

“I think that the performance was good to be honest, in terms of taking the result to one side, we played quite well,” Wilson told the Press.

“We looked good on the ball, we tried to play the way that we wanted to play, we got into some good areas of the pitch but we just weren’t clinical enough in the final third to take those good chances.

“That’s why we lost, it wasn’t right in both boxes but the rest of it was very good today.

“I didn’t think that we looked like conceding for most of the game either.

“They’re 17, 18, 19, so they’ve got loads to learn. We learned today and we will learn a lot from it, we will bounce back and take the lessons from today.”

Wilson also felt that the decision to send off midfielder Alex Payne was a turning point in the contest, with York being reduced to ten men with just over ten minutes of time remaining, as Maidstone took the advantage through a sublime free-kick from Court.

Wilson continued: “I thought that we were on top, until the red card came it was a good game and with that performance we were leaning towards winning it.

“Red cards change games and especially when they are that late on, it was a big pitch so the players were tiring a little bit so it made it difficult.

“I thought we were okay for the ten minutes after and I didn’t think that we were going to concede, other than potentially from a set-piece.

“It’s always nice when you take a trophy home with you, but we will have learned loads and it’s a good experience for the boys.

“It’s great that the National League have put this on, and I’d like to say congratulations to Maidstone.”

Also in attendance for the match was first-team manager Adam Hinshelwood, who was pleased with City's efforts at St George's Park. 

“I thought that we were the better team to be honest," Hinshelwood told the Press.

"I thought that it was destined to go to penalties, neither team had a real good chance until right at the end. 

"All in all, I have been really pleased with what I have seen today, there has been some good glimpses and some good players on show. 

“Obviously they will hurt a lot this evening, it’s something that we want to experience are these big games. 

"Playing at a nice venue like this in a big game is what you want, so for them to get a bit of an experience like that today is really important for them. 

“It’s a fantastic place to come, I thought that the pitch was superb and it’s great for them to host these kind of finals. 

"It was a relatively big crowd and a big game for them, which they have worked hard for all season to reach this final. 

"It’s what we want, we want these players to become accustomed to this. 

"There wasn’t too much splitting the two teams, it was a bit nervy but once the game had settled it down it was a good game. 

"The decisions didn’t really go our way but York came out in full force for their young players which was nice to see."