A second consecutive away game took the young Blues to face league leaders Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.
But it was a day where the away team never really got going as the hosts dominated much of the play.
Youth boss Eric Kinder said: "We haven't had to say this too much this season but we were a very poor second best today.
"Blackpool started at a high tempo and we just didn't match it. Usually I would talk about positives that we could take away from it, but we have to accept that we didn't get anywhere near the standards we set ourselves at all.
"It was first against second and unfortunately we've put on our worst performance of the season for it, so the lads will be disappointed.
"When we look back at it as a group we'll see that the goals we conceded were a comedy of errors, as was much of our play, and we let Blackpool win a lot of the important battles.
"Yes we're missing players at the moment, yes we had a couple of under-16s involved, but that's no excuse. We have to be better than we were today."
The Seasiders came out of the traps at pace and they were furstrated when an early appeal for a penalty, when Holmes went down in the area, was waved away by the referee.
But the hosts went ahead on seven minutes when Holmes got a touch on Apter's cross. Tayt Trusty took over and he made no mistake with a crisp finish.
United responded well and they were back on terms on the quarter hour when Dylan Garvey slotted the ball into the net.
And it got better for the visitors just six minutes later when Sam Fishburn used his presence to put the visitors in front, albeit against the run of play
It became nip and tuck, but Blackpool pulled level when Apter rode a challenge before squaring it for James Harrison to finish off.
The second half ebbed and flowed, with Blackpool dictating the pace, and Scott Simmons did well between the sticks to protect his target as both Apter and Harrison found themselves with just the young stopper to beat.
But the hosts deservedly took the lead on 75 minutes when Brad Holmes tried his luck from distance. He caught the shot well and it arrowed into the back of the net.
United pressed, and DJ Taylor brought the best out of the keeper when he worked a space to unleash one from just inside the area.
Blackpool sealed the points deep into time added on, courtesy of Luke Mariette, who ensured that the in-form Tangerines extended their winning run to ten consecutive games.