The under-18 side were up against Middlesbrough for the final friendly of their pre-season schedule and a young team held their own in what was an entertaining encounter.
United went behind with just two minutes on the clock, and they conceded again before the break, but they kept their heads up as they continued to play their football.
An under-16 trialist bagged a goal for the Blues, but the strong Middlesbrough side started to dominate through the closing stages and they added two more to their tally.
"I was pleased with the performance, the lads gave it everything for 70 minutes," youth boss Eric Kinder said. "They were up against a very strong category 1 academy side and they'll have got a lot out of it.
"The first years coped well, which was good to see, and we had some younger lads from the under-16 group who also had a good game.
"A young trialist scored for us, and we'll be taking a longer look at him, so overall it was a very worthwhile outing for us."
We'll have more reaction from Eric Kinder on the official website later this week.