Swindon Town U18s progressed to the second round of the FA Youth Cup, following a professional 1-0 victory over Aldershot Town U18s at The EBB Stadium on Wednesday night.
A first-half effort from winger Conor Britchford-Stanley sealed the victory for Swindon as they looked to the next round of the competition following a strong showing down at the National League side.
Town's U18s Manager Sean Wood named a strong side for his side's first outing in this year's FA Youth Cup, with the likes of Miles Obodo, George Alston, Jaxon Brown, Fletcher Hubbard, Liam Hutt, Finn Adams and Sonny Hart all featuring after already making first-team appearances this season.
The first opportunity fell the way of Town in the 7th minute, with winger Fletcher Hubbard's looped effort coming agonisingly close to opening the scoring. Still, his effort ricocheted back off the post as the home side eventually cleared.
A spell of pressure continued for Swindon, as Aldershot thought they'd opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Kaden Hughes but the referee called the play back for offside, as Swindon looked to respond to this moment of pressure.
Miles Obodo had the game's next chance in the 23rd minute when he latched onto an error from the Aldershot Town defender but could only force a good save from Aldershot's Alex Walder in the home side's goal.
Swindon would take the lead in the 30th minute through a brilliant solo finish from winger Conor Britchford-Stanley. After dancing around a couple of defenders, Britchford-Stanley found space and whipped the ball into the far left corner giving Town the advantage their dominant first-half performance deserved.
Another chance came for Town before half-time, with midfielder Jaxon Brown firing inside the penalty area but his powerful strike was well-saved by Walder once again.
This chance ended what was a promising first 45 for Swindon as they looked to deliver more of the same in the second half.
Half-time: Aldershot Town U18s 0 Swindon Town U18s 1
The second half saw Swindon continue to control the game and dictate the majority of the play as Britchford-Stanley almost found his second in the 59th minute, but a brave Aldershot Town block denied him.
There weren't too many more opportunities for either side in the latter stages of the game, however as the rain poured down, more pressure began to test this young Swindon side.
Aldershot Town substitute Krystian Komosinski fired on a wet surface from 20 yards, but captain Redman Evans held the effort well in tricky conditions with just over five minutes left to play.
Swindon saw out the late pressure from The Shots as they looked to press for the equaliser late on in the game, but the young Robins will take confidence from their performance going forward this season.
Town's U18s will now look ahead to their next Youth Alliance League fixture away to Plymouth on Saturday, before finding out who they will face in the next round of the FA Youth Cup very soon.
Aldershot Town U18s: Walder, Fowler, Cooper, Derham, Hughes, Elliott (C), Carter (Sell 64), Holley, Nouble (Komosinski 78), Toby Nelson (Tommy Nelson 85), McMillan
Goals:
Subs not used: Brindley, Turner, Mather, Gurung, Nelson
Swindon Town: Evans (C), Hutt, Chard, Brown, Hart, Adams, Britchford-Stanley (McGregor 78), Stewart, Obodo (Gray 65), Alston (Keyes 87), Hubbard
Goals: Britchford-Stanley 30
Subs not used: Myers, Milne, Ameen, Gonzalez-Birchall
Referee: Derrick Laing
Attendance: 165
