Our men’s under-18s made it three consecutive victories in Premier League South with a 2-0 win over Southampton on Saturday.
The victory was also a third consecutive clean sheet, with a seventh place finish essentially guaranteed with two games still to play.
While you can praise Albion’s pressure in the Saints box, the opening goal after ten minutes was a gift. Southampton keeper Adli Mohamed gave it away on the edge of his own box which left Harry Howell with the straight forward job of passing the ball into an empty net.
Sahil Bashir put the game to bed with a lovely finish 12 minutes after the restart, cutting into the box after an incisive Albion counter before firing in.
“The performance wasn’t one of our best or the most memorable, but that’s what makes the result really impressive,” head coach Inigo Calderon said. “The boys had a disrupted week as a number of them were away with the under-21s, so it was a different week to what we’re used to.
“I give them a lot of credit because of that, they weren’t as creative as they have been in the last months but they still scored.
“They didn’t concede chances and, trust me, that’s a big achievement for the boys because it is so normal to concede at this level. They showed that even when you’re not in your best moment you can still defend well.”