BURTON Albion under 18s maintained their good form with a 5-2 demolition of Grimsby Town on Saturday but manager Sam Rose has demanded better defensive performances from his side.
A second half brace from Joe Sbarra was preceded by goals from Dylan Garnett, Luke Tandy and Jake Davies, with Grimsby scoring twice to reduce the Brewers’ 3-0 lead to 3-2.Â
Manager Rose said that he was happy with the attacking qualities on show from his side but admits that they must improve defensively.
“It was really pleasing for us to score five goals but we cannot buy a clean sheet at the moment, which I suppose is the most disappointing aspect of the afternoon,” he said.
“In my feedback to the players, I have probably been a little bit harsh, but we are really keen to set the tone that individual standards are important; team performances are important because we are really trying to get the result and give the lads a chance to develop.
“It was a difficult surface, the pitch wasn’t very big and Grimsby didn’t give us a lot of time on the ball, but, having said that, I would have liked us to have moved the ball a bit better at times.
“It is nice to see us scoring a lot of goals, after the five today we are the top scorers in the league, but on the flipside of that, we are conceding a lot of goals and I dream of a day when we can score loads and keep a clean sheet, because then we are making it easier for ourselves.”
The Brewers have scored 18 goals in their opening six league games, of which they have lost just one. Burton are currently  fifth in the Youth Alliance League, a place above their next opponents Scunthorpe, their 11 points leaves them within three points of second placed Notts County, who have played a game more.