Elliott Dickman was all smiles after Sunderland under-18s cruised past Burton Albion and into the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup last night.
Despite a nervy opening which saw Charlie Dowd hand the Brewers a shock lead at Eppleton Colliery Welfare, the Black Cats clawed their way back and turned the game on its head before half time.
Josh Maja levelled things up on 23 minutes as he pounced on Callum Hawkins’ parry before Luke Tandy experienced a moment to forget as he inadvertently lobbed his own ‘keeper after attempting to cut out Maja’s through ball.
Sunderland weren’t complaining though and after the break lady luck remained with the hosts as Lee Connelly’s rasping drive deflected up and over Hawkins to give the Black Cats a two-goal cushion.
Maja then rammed home his second to round off a pleasing display from the youth team, and speaking post-match Dickman praised his players’ endeavour to dig in and turn the game around.
“We had a bit of a slow and nervy start to the game but the players responded well and I thought in the end we played some lovely football,” he said.
“There was a good intensity to the game, some good quality, some good bits of movement and overall it was a really pleasing performance.
“I don’t want to single anybody out because I think it was a really good team performance and I’m pleased with their effort.”
He continued: “There were one or two individuals who caught my eye and were very, very good but most importantly we were pleased with the whole team effort once we settled down.”