BURTON Albion lost their penultimate game of the Youth Alliance season 2-1 to Mansfield Town, a result that saw the Stags confirmed as title winners.
The Brewers had been in the title hunt for much of the season, although defending champions Mansfield led the way for the most-part. Joe Sbarra scored for Burton Albion to halve the deficit and u18 coach, Sam Rose was pleased with the performance of the team in a close encounter in which the Brewers were unlucky not to get something from the game.“It is always difficult playing against Mansfield Town. They are good at what they do and make you defend your box, they put lots of long balls on to your centre backs and in to the channels and they work hard. We dealt well with that for the majority of the game but we should be disappointed to concede two goals in the first half when we could have defended better.
“We were pleased with the level of performance last time out against Notts County and we can be pleased again today, despite the result. The current group is largely u16 and u17 so it bodes well for the future.
“The win for Mansfield today meant that they secured the league title for the second season running. We congratulate John Dempster and the staff and players at the Stags on their achievement.”
The Brewers host Hartlepool United in their final game of the season, knowing that a win could take them up to fifth in the Youth Alliance League.