The Youth team notched up another win this morning, beating Stockport County Youth 3-2.

Eric told us about the game.

"Last Saturday gave me the opportunity to rest the entire midfield after the Youth Cup game against Southend. I just felt that, after the effort they had put in, that it was the right thing to do. Michael Dowson, Ged Dalton, John Seaton and Simon Lakeland all got 90 minutes, which they hadn't had for a long time. It didn't interrupt the side too much, we just had to change the midfield pattern, but it was the normal back four and the normal two lads up front. It also gave me the chance to get Shaun Law, the U16s captain, on to the bench, and I had every intention of giving him some game time, which he got.

It ended up being a good morning for us. We started brightly and went in front early on when Matt Duffy sent a free kick in to the box. Gary Madine buried it from behind their centre half, with an excellent header.

Then we lost a bit of momentum. Having said that, John Seaton put us two up, with a great run from midfield. It was a terrific goal for the lad, to be fair to him.

I knew that the four lads in midfield would get tired in the second half, but I wanted them to get through the 90 minutes for their own fitness.We looked ok for a while at 2-0, but then we really did start to look as if we'd had a hard game in the week running up to it.The two centre backs did well, they tried to keep us going, but it was hard work.

It was a poor second half, but I expected it. They pulled a goal back on the hour, but we managed to restore the two goal cushion with another very good finish from John Seaton. By that time I was thinking that we were home and dry, but we conceded with about 5 minutes left to play. That made it a very nervy close. Mind you, 3-2 was a good result in the end, when you consider the circumstances.

It turned out to be a really good week for us. We progressed in the Youth Cup and got ourselves back to winning ways in the League. We've rested players that we needed to rest, and we've got 90 minutes for people who haven't had that for a long time. Shaun Law has got 15 minutes to show what he can do at this level, and I was pleased with that. The bigger picture is that I'm absolutely delighted at everything that's happened recently, so on we go onwith Shrewsbury on Saturday and then Aston Villa next week."

Team: Mitchell, Brown (Blake), Wordsworth, Aldred, Duffy, Dowson, Seaton, Lakeland, Dalton, Cook (Law), Madine. Subs: Tinnion, Wood, Jamieson.