Under 18 manager Mike Dove says his youngsters need to be more streetwise after losing out in a seven-goal thriller against Colchester United at Woughton on Saturday.

A brilliant hat-trick from winger Dan Powell wasn't enough for victory in the Under 18's penultimate pre-season friendly ahead of the new Academy Premier League season.

The defeat was made all the tougher to take given that Powell's third, a clever finish after powerfully winning trialist Andre De Costa's cross, levelled the game at 3-3 with just a minute to go.

But with a hard-earned draw seemingly in sight, Dons were caught out at the back, as the U's snatched a late winner.

Mike said: "One thing we're quickly learning with this group is that we have some extremely talented, creative players going forward, but there's an element of defensive naivety there.

"Defensively, we need to work better as a group and be a little more streetwise.

"You can't have a player scoring a hat-trick and ending up on the losing side, it undoes everything the team and the individual has worked for.

"I want them to be creative, I want them to be positive and we were brilliant to watch at times on Saturday. But we need to work on our defensive responsibilities and concentration in transition play."

Mike's boys were indeed easy on the eye in possession, utilising their three-man central midfield with some slick passing movements and taking full advantage of Powell's power off the left flank.

But while Dan was providing the finishing touch, his younger namesake Martel was pulling the strings in midfield.

Having fallen behind to an early U's goal, Martel set off on a clever run through midfield, before clipping a wonderful ball into the box which Powell latched onto and finished clinically.

The two Powells, unrelated despite their level of understanding, were at it again after the Dons had again fallen behind on 37 minutes. Again Martel's ball out to the left was superb but, this time, Dan had to ride two challenges on his way goalwards before rounding the 'keeper and tucking home just before the break.

A tight second half was opened up when Colchester scored on the break after 72 minutes before the late drama.

Mike was full of praise for Dan's performance, saying: "Dan's finding some good form - he's a big strong lad with good pace, he's hard to get the ball off and when he's on his game he can be unplayable.

"He still has some work to do, in my opinion his size and power should make him devastating.

"But he's difficult to defend against because he improvises so well. He just 'does' rather than 'thinks' and he strikes the ball well with both feet."

Dons (4-5-1): Fox, C. Johnson, King (c), Flanagan, Lochlin, Farden (De Costa 58), Newton (Dowling 46), M. Powell, Carter (Carvalho 61), D. Powell, Delderfield.