Town's U18s came back from behind to defeat Professional Development League Two South table-toppers Cardiff City 2-1 at Playford Road on Saturday morning with Lounes Foudil and Zak Brown (pictured) netting the goals, Brown having seen a first-half penalty saved before being sent off moments before the final whistle.
The young Blues started well and Tyreece Simpson toe-poked the ball wide of the target early on, before visiting keeper George Ratcliffe just got enough on Brown's near-post strike to divert the ball away for a corner.
Ratcliffe then got down well to parry Alex Henderson's header away following a corner from youngster Liam Gibbs, before Town were given a golden chance to take the lead on 17.
Brown burst into the box from the left and was brought down by Ryan Reynolds, with referee Adrian George left with no option but to point to the spot. Brown stepped up and took the spot-kick himself but Ratcliffe guessed correctly and dived to his left to keep the ball out.
Cardiff started to come more into the game and Town keeper Toby Egan made some good saves to deny the visitors' attack, but moments after Fraser Alexander had cleared an effort off the line, Bluebirds' winger Sam Bowen fired a fierce volley back through the crowd of players and into the net.
Town started the second half well but they were nearly caught on the counter-attack on the hour mark when the visitors broke forward and Bowen struck the foot of Egan's near post.
However, five minutes later the Blues deservedly levelled the scores when sub Ben Wyss's cross from the right was headed back across goal and over Ratcliffe by skipper Foudil.
Adem Atay and Kieron Dyer's side kept the pressure up and Brown scored what turned out to be the match-winner on 70 when he ran onto Lewis Reed's headed flick and rounded Ratcliffe before finding the unguarded net from a tight angle.
While the young Blues held on to take all three points, Brown was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card. The first had been given for a push with five minutes remaining and then the striker needlessly dived in and fouled an opponent. Neither he nor the Town coaching staff had any complaints about the decision.
Atay and Dyer will have been impressed with the willingness of their team to keep pushing to get back into the game, and to get what they ultimately deserved against the league leaders.
It was an even more impressive result given the two central midfielders for the Blues - Gibbs and Alexander - are both U16s and have only made a handful of U18s appearances between them, while the more experienced Brown was a constant threat to the visitors' defence but could easily have avoided getting his red card towards the end.
Town’s table-topping U23s are next in action at Playford Road on Monday afternoon when they face Burnley (KO 1pm).
U18s: Egan, Viral (Wyss 52), Vega, Alexander (Baker 65), Fehrenbach, Henderson, Ruffles, Gibbs, Z Brown, Foudil, Simpson (Reed 59). Unused: Alley, Clifford.