Mark Atkinson praised his players for their second-half response against Leicester City.
The under-18s underperformed in the opening period but following the interval they took command, with Lee Connelly finding the net seconds before the hour mark.
Unfortunately the young Black Cats were unable to hang on and in added time the Foxes levelled, but speaking to safc.com Atkinson drew positives from their overall performance.
“To be honest we’ve probably been better in previous games – especially in the first-half – so that was disappointing, but we improved in the second period and we were more competitive.
“Initially I thought Leicester had more about them and wanted it more which is isn't good enough, but the lads took our messages on board and came out showing more character and more grit.”
He continued: “We were a lot more positive and the reaction was the pleasing thing for us.
“It’s been on Lee’s mind because he hasn’t scored for a few games, but it was a great bit of movement and a great finish – he’s done that a lot for us this year.
“You’d back him all day in goalscoring situations.”