Rovers U18s manager Chad Gribble was impressed by his side’s performance following a winning start to life in the 2022/23 Youth Alliance Cup against Blackpool.
It took until the final 10 minutes for the only goal of the game to come with Max Adamson scoring late on at Cantley Park to take an opening three points in the group stage.
The game saw the youth team play out a tightly contested affair with their Youth Alliance North West opposition but Gribble was happy to make it two wins from two in competitive football.
He said: “It’s always nice to win football matches and win with a clean sheet but it wasn’t a pretty game today and it was quite scrappy with the ball changing hands a lot.
“At 0-0 maybe it would’ve been a fair result but when you get an opportunity like we got getting in behind and forcing an error, sometimes a goal can come from it and we got it.
“I was pleased that we did that and I was pleased how we coped physically, how fit we looked and how many second balls we won and we had the opportunities to take control but we didn’t use them today.
“It is back-to-back wins and the clean sheet we were looking for last week so it’s a really good step in the right direction.”
Rovers introduced first-year scholar Adamson from the bench for the second consecutive game and the striker got the winning goal to make it two goal contributions over as many matches leaving Gribble delighted.
He added: “It was brilliant and the change we were always going to make and we needed it because it became scrappy, a running game and a game with a lot of clearances from our defenders which meant there was going to be a lot of loose balls that might have gone in behind.
“Max was sent on with a job to do and an instruction and he carried that out to perfection which in turn got him his goal.
“Yet again I think all the subs that have come on have contributed today and like I said last time it is nice to be able to look over your shoulder and see the changes you can make that are going to add another dynamic to the performance.
“The game needed someone who was going to fight and scrap his way through and Max had done it in preseason and last week when he came on and got an assist so he’s deserved to get the goal today.”