Thomas Hughes netted a second-half hat-trick as Town’s table-topping U18s drew 3-3 with Colchester United at their Florence Park training ground this morning.
The bottom-of-the-league U’s took the lead early on via Noah Chilvers with second-year scholar Hughes, who has been with the academy since he was seven, equalising not long after half-time.
Lordon Akolbire restored the home side’s lead before Hughes headed his second of the match and then gave the Blues the lead from the penalty spot as he completed his hat-trick.
Town looked to have won it until deep into injury time when Chilvers netted his second of the game to grab a point for the Essex side.
With second-placed Cardiff not in action, the young Blues now lead the Professional Development League Two South by a point.
U18s: Egan, O’Reilly, Clements, Healy, Henderson (T Smith 82), Vega, Ruffles, Foudil, Z Brown (Reed), Viral (Baker 46), Hughes.