RAY Woods paid tribute to his Worcester City academy side who lost out on penalties to Loughborough College in the PASE League Cup semi-final yesterday.

City were narrowly beaten 5-4 on penalties with the two sides level at 3-3 after full time at St George's Lane, but youth development officer Woods said he was proud of his team.

"That's probably the best performance from a youth side that I've seen," said Woods.

"They were awesome. Loughborough were a very strong side, probably the strongest in the PASE league, with a lot on non league players aged 19.

"We had seven 16-year-olds and six 17-year-olds so I'm very proud of the way the played."

City's youngsters used home advantage to race to a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from 16-year-olds Andy Hipkins and James Smith.

Loughborough hit back after the break to take a 3-2 lead before Tom Hobbs, 16, equalised to take the tie into penalties.

* Waterlogged pitches forced the postponement of Westfields' West Midlands Premier Division game at Wolverhampton United last night, and Pegasus Juniors' home Hellenic Premier Division clash with Gloucester United.