After beating the Island U18s 3-1 on Wednesday night, Bels moved ahead of Vale Rec in group B standings and secured themselves a spot in the last four.
‘It feels like progress after a long time of transition and they fully deserve it,’ said Le Friec.
‘I’m over the moon – it’s the most pleasing thing.
‘All the pictures and videos of them celebrating last night are coming in – the WhatsApp group is just a glorious place to be, but we have to stay humble and stay hungry.’
Le Friec was off island for Wednesday night’s game due to work commitments but was kept up to date with text updates and a full debrief from his assistant coach Ant Austen on how their all-important final group stage game played out.
‘We’ve been working on our press from the front and our message was they’re going to be young, fit and fast and it was frantic, and we knew large parts of the game we would be without the ball so we had to be good and keep our shape and Ant said that is exactly what we did,’ he said.
‘I was speaking to our captain before the game and said as long they give it their best that is all I could ask for, and he replied saying “we’re coming out swinging” and Ant echoed that is what happened.
‘Everything we worked on in training came together and we got the benefit of all of our hard work.
‘I can’t thank Ant enough – it’s a team effort. He was buzzing last night, and this morning. When I asked him he was just saying everyone were standout performers.’
Bels opened the scoring at Victoria Park in the first-half through Brad Foss.
Leon Meakin’s U18s equalised after half-time but Bels reacted well and Zak Chatterton and Louis Pang both got on the scoresheet to secure Bels three points and second place in the group.
‘Our first was Brad Foss – the guy is on fire at the moment. It came from a goal-kick and Luke Staples headed it on to Declan Wallace who flicked it on to Brad who finished in the bottom corner,’ said Le Friec.
‘Ant said at half-time it was about protecting the lead, but we reacted well when they scored after half-time. Zak, Callum [Wallace] and Louis pressed the keeper into a mistake and Zak finished.
‘Louis Pang was through and taken down and won a penalty. He stepped up to take it and rolled it into the bottom corner.’
In the last 15 minutes of the game the U18s put pressure on Bels who were focused on defending their lead.
‘We survived 90 minutes of pressure in the last 15, so all credit to them they put on a lot of pressure,’ said Le Friec echoing Austen’s comments.
‘It means a hell of a lot to us to beat a team like that.’
Bels will now face St Martin’s in the semi-finals on Friday 17 April, three days after the two sides meet in the Priaulx League.
‘They’re obviously a really good side, but it’s a semi-final, who knows what could happen,’ said Le Friec. ‘I’m just thrilled to be one game away from a final.’
The other semi-final is between Rovers and Sylvans on Wednesday 15 April.
