Saints' Under-18's went down to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Ipswich Town on Saturday morning.

The youngsters returned to action with their first outing of 2010 for the trip to Suffolk as a combination of a break in the fixtures and the recent adverse weather conditions have limited the number of matches for Dave Puckett's side.

Driving rain and windswept conditions didn't stop Saints from bossing the first half of the match, which unfortunately wasn't capitalised on and was made worse when the Blues took the lead a minute before half time with a break from a free-kick finished smartly by the hosts.

Saints kept up the pressure in the second 45 but without forcing any clear chances and were made to pay when Town doubled their advantage ten minutes from time with a run and shot from the touchline which beat Jack Dovey into the far corner.

Puckett replaced Ryan Tafazolli with Andy Robinson as his team went to a 3-5-2 formation to try and spark a comeback, but further chances were off target from the visitors who showed a good attitude according to their manager.

"We were the better side in both halves," Puckett said. "It's disappointing to lose because we had a lot of the play and the possession but we needed to be more ruthless in front of goal.

"There were plenty of positives to take away though and it was good to be back playing games again. The lads were all bursting to play after so long without a match, but the games will soon come thick and fast for them."

Saints Under-18s: Dovey, Argent, Racine, Tafazolli (Robinson 81), Reeves, Preen, Oxlade-Chamberlain, McNish, Holder-Spooner, Keegan, Hoskins.