Burton Albion's PDP side were defeated 6-3 away at Wrexham in their latest EFL Youth Alliance North Division fixture. The Young Brewers, many of whom were involved in Tuesday night's first-team fixture against Grimsby Town, conceded four goals in the first half before mounting a second-half comeback that fell short. The loss marked back-to-back defeats for the first time this season.
First Half Struggles
Shaun Barker and Dave Freeman's side began with promise. Rhys Bowering felt he had been brought down unfairly in the early stages without a decision, and Henry Knowles was denied by Wrexham goalkeeper Miles Lewis after a tricky run into the penalty area.
Wrexham opened the scoring in the 25th minute when midfielder Jac Jones picked the ball up on the edge of the area and fired low into the bottom-left corner past Burton goalkeeper James Clarke. Four minutes later, Widecki-Estima headed in from the near post to double the hosts' advantage. Lennon Biggs added a third in the 39th minute with a long-range strike that arrowed in off the crossbar. Harry Wakenshaw's header from a corner in the final minute of the half made it 4-0 at the break.
Second Half Fightback
Burton responded within five minutes of the restart when Archie Hancock and Robbie Meakin both scored to reduce the deficit to 4-2. Hancock nearly grabbed a second when he rattled the crossbar from a Reuben Keller set-piece delivery.
Wrexham regained control with Biggs scoring his second just after the hour mark. Widecki-Estima added his second to make it 6-2, but Meakin grabbed his second of the afternoon with ten minutes remaining. Substitute Anotida Shonwiha carried the ball into the area and set up Meakin to beat Lewis, but Burton could not find an equaliser before the final whistle.