Oldham Athletic’s youth team won two games on the spin as they beat Huddersfield Town U18s 1-3 away from home.
A brace from Ryan Scholes-Beard and Sam Amankwaa was enough for the young Latics side in tough conditions.
Interim Academy Manager Pete Wild was pleased that his side were able to win ugly on Saturday morning.
“It was a really tough game, it wasn't one for the neutral.” He said.
“We could have been three down after the first 25 minutes and ended going one up off a corner routine that you may have seen in the first team.
“We said to the lads at half time that we have to win ugly, the pitch didn't suit us, the weather didn't suit us, so it was a really battling performance.
“It's good for the development of these lads, it can't all be pretty football, sometimes you've got to win ugly which they did Saturday.”
Wild was back in familiar territory after spending six weeks in the first team hotseat on a caretaker basis.
He says he is enjoying being back to his academy role and he said that the win on Saturday capped off a good week.
“It's good to be back, I'm enjoying getting back out on the training ground and working with the young players again.” He commented.
“It was good to cap out a good week's training with a win on Saturday.”
There has been one change since Wild was away with the first team and that is the introduction of a new Head of Coaching in the academy in the shape of Conor Marlin.
Wild believes that Marlin will bring some needed experience and is looking forward to working with him long-term.
“Conor's joined us as Head of Coaching, he's someone I know really well and somebody I think is a really good addition to our team.
“He'll bring a wealth of experience in and he's already settled in well getting himself around the teams getting to know the Oldham Athletic way.”
Craig Large had been in charge whilst Wild was away and the Interim academy boss had high praise for his coaching staff for steading the ship.
“Craig's done a phenomenal job with everything and he deserves a lot of credit for the job he's done and how he's applied himself.
“He's really stepped up throughout this period and he's kept this academy going which has really helped me coming back.”
Now he has returned to the academy set up, he can now concentrate on producing the next wave of young talent going through to the first team.
However, Wild does say that he’ll take lessons he’s learnt from the first team set up back into the academy.
“I've taken back lots from my experience with the first team.
“It's sharpened up my thinking, made me realise what it takes to hit that next level and it's really evaluated what players need to have when they go to that next level.
“It's made me want to drive the young players more because I want as many of them to succeed as possible.”
Next up for the youth team is a trip to high flying Lincoln City U18s on Friday afternoon (2pm).