Youth team so unlucky against league leaders

An effort goes over the bar

With that sorted the Clarets started with goalkeeper Michael Hale once again out of the side through injury. He was close to making it but failed a Friday fitness test. Alongside of him on the touchline was Paul Scott who was there courtesy of a pair of crutches.

We reported last week that Scotty had gone off injured in the win over Rochdale but we can now confirm that he has broken two bones in his foot. Joe Booth is also out injured we learned this morning whilst it has been reported that Robert Grimes, he hasn’t played all season, has now decided to leave the club.

First year scholar took up Scott’s place at left back and we lined up in a 4-5-1 formation: Curtis Aspin, James Heywood, Neal Trotman, Ryan Townsend, Tom Ince, Marc Pugh, Danny Pitham, Darrel Avery, Ross Preston, Alex Taylor, Rhys Carpenter.

The Clarets started brightly and looked to attack Wigan but it was the visitors who took the lead after just nine minutes with their first real effort of the game. It came from a right wing corner with the Wigan player getting up at the far post to head powerfully home.

The young Clarets looked rattled for a few minutes and Wigan could have doubled their lead but we soon recovered our composure and for a period we looked the better side.

In fact on 21 minutes we came close to an equaliser through Rhys Carpenter but the Wigan keeper got down to his right to make an excellent stop at the expense of a corner.

Much of the remainder of the first half was played out in midfield with neither side able to make much in the way of chances but on the balance of play we could count ourselves very unlucky to go in at the break a goal behind.

Neal Trotman (left of picture) heads against the bar

It really was hard to believe that the Clarets were 2-0 down, especially for one Clarets Mad reporter who had missed the second goal whilst taking an important phone call. But he was alert to see the visiting keeper make a good save and then just a couple of minutes later stand helpless as a Neal Trotman header hit the bar.

Against one of the strongest sides in the league we played some really good football in the second half, although the moans from the other side perhaps suggested the coaching staff were not quite so impressed as the spectators.

But that’s what coaches do and some of our play in the second half was such that we really did deserve to get something from the game. Marc Pugh was giving the Wigan defence a lot of trouble with his right wing runs and the Bacup youngster really does look a good prospect.

But so many of them do and it is perhaps unfair to pick out individuals although Danny Pitham, playing in midfield at the moment, again looked the part adding some strength and no little skill to that area of the team.

It was a defeat but again the youngsters performed well against a stronger and more experienced side and the way some of them are currently performing there is every chance that there could be more players breaking into the first team as Richard Chaplow and Matt O’Neill have done.

Next week sees us in cup action as we travel to take on Chesterfield in the Youth Alliance Cup before returning to league action in two weeks time at Oldham.