A SECOND-HALF goal from James Harrison made it four consecutive wins for the Burton Albion under 18s as they beat Grimsby Town 1-0.
Harrison scored just after half-time to secure all three points for Burton. The forward drove into the Grimsby penalty area and found the net, despite the goalkeeper getting a hand to his strike.
Defensively, the Brewers held firm but goalkeeper Callum Hawkins was forced into a number of fine second half saves as Grimsby pushed for an equaliser but Burton held on for their first clean sheet of the season.
Professional Development Phase Lead Coach Sam Rose praised the defensive work of the team but stressed the importance of staying focused, despite their good form.
He said: “It was good to keep a clean sheet and win the game 1-0. We need to make sure that the lads stay confident but also keep their heads down and work to keep developing as players.
“I don’t think that we played particularly well in the second half and I think that Grimsby maybe deserved to score a goal, but we defended really well and I think it was summed by Max Smith and Regan Ganley diving in front of the ball with a few minutes to go and keeping it out of our net.
“It was a very good defensive performance and that is the encouraging thing, if they are not playing particularly well then they have got to understand how to work hard and battle to keep the ball out of the back of the net.”