Sunderland AFC's under-18 side suffered heartbreak at Carrington on ​Saturday, with a late goal from Manchester United seeing them settle for a 1-1 draw.

Right at the death

Coach Elliott Dickman will have expected a tough game as his side traveled to Manchester to take on the Red Devils.

However, it was the young Black Cats that were on top, and managed to take the lead after just 20 minutes.

Goalkeeper Michael Woud produced a long clearance which proved perfect for Lee Connolly as his persistence was rewarded as he snuck in from the defensive error to fire home.

Dickman's side were looking to make it six consecutive win over their opponents, and had two great opportunities near the end to put the game out of sight.

However, United started to get into the game, and came very close to the equaliser in the 73rd minute as Kayne Diedrick-Roberts clattered the crossbar.

With a minute to play, United broke Sunderland's hearts as they grabbed the equaliser, as Jake Barrett managed to tap it home to share the spoils.

Above: Sunderland under-18's conceding against Newcastle United | Photo: Getty Images
Above: Sunderland under-18's conceding against Newcastle United | Photo: Getty Images

Doing well

It has been a terrible start to the Under-18 campaign for the Black Cats, with the young side yet win a game in their opening eight matches, which has left them rock bottom of the under-18 league.

Coming so close to their first three points could be a big dent in the confidence of Dickman's young side, but the coach believes that his side performed well on the AON Training Complex.

He told safc.com: "The lads did very well today, it was a well-deserved point but I thought we should have come away with all three points."

Dickman concluded: "Overall it was a good team performance."  

Sunderland under-18's will take on Blackburn Rovers at the Academy of Light on Saturday, October 15 with kick-off 12:30pm BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.