Castilla display leaves Smith in awe

Defeated Region I AMA manager Gerry Smith had "no complaints" after his side lost 2-0 to Castilla y León AMA in UEFA Regions' Cup Group B and is tipping the Spanish outfit to go all the way in the competition. Despite a confident display, Castilla coach Javier Yepes is contemplating changes on Wednesday when they meet Kempen AMA, whose coach Francis Jadoulle was forced to wait until added time for his side to defeat nine-man Savez Gradiška AMA. Slobodan Crnadak bemoaned the disruption the dismissals caused but felt his side should have been in the ascendency much earlier.

Gerry Smith, Region I manager
We were beaten by the better team on the day; I have no complaints. However, when we needed a bit of luck we didn't get it either but they are a class act. The second goal killed us off – whatever chance we had at getting back into it at 1-0 was gone. I can't fault the lads, particularly in the second half as I thought they gave it a right good go. In the first half we couldn't match their pace. They're a very good team who know the game inside out and play very well. We had to go chasing it without leaving ourselves spare at the back. They're a very good side and I'd be surprised if they don't go all the way.

Javier Yepes, Castilla coach
It was a good result for us. They were very compact and tough to beat and they didn't let us play our normal game so we encountered some difficulties. The first goal helped us a little bit and in the second half we had more possession and could develop our game but it was very tough and we suffered right until the end of the game – I was afraid they might score. We must recover from this tough game, the players need rest. We will analyse their physical condition and Kempen's display and on Wednesday morning I will make my mind up and prepare the team.

Slobodan Crnadak, Savez Gradiška coach
Our goal was not to lose the match. We didn't achieve it because we received two red cards in the second half. It was decisive as I had planned to play with caution in the first half and then make some tactical changes in the second because I have good players on the bench. I didn't have the opportunity to do this but I am not too dissatisfied because we had our chances and we didn't take them. If we had scored in the first half from two excellent chances everything would have been different thereafter. We will not dwell on this, though. We have to forget this loss and try to win the next match [against Region I on Wednesday].

Francis Jadoulle, Kempen coach
I am glad we won the match, although it was difficult. We didn't play at the highest level in the first half and didn't create any chances. At half-time I told my players to stop hitting long balls and play short passes as well as bringing our No10 [Thortsten Ubachs] into play. We played better in the second half although we could have scored the goal much earlier than in the last minute.