Under 18 manager Mike Dove admitted to his frustration after his side were beaten 3-0 by Charlton Athletic at Woughton on Saturday.

The young Dons were punished with three quick-fire Addicks goals early in the second half, a spell they were never able to recover from.

A Martel Powell shot against the post with 13 minutes to play was the closest they came to putting a dent in Charlton's lead. And after a spirited display at Ipswich last week, Mike had been hoping for a better follow-up performance.

He said: "Charlton were a hard-working side and credit to them for the win, but we gave the ball away far too often.

"I'm disappointed because we always look to the learning part of the game and, after a good performance against Ipswich last week, I thought the boys would have taken more on board.

"I wanted them to be bright, show plenty of composure on the ball and to be switched on from the first whistle and that wasn't what we got.

"I'm mainly disappointed because we've been making good progress of late and we've passed up the chance to build on it."

A goalless first half, while scrappy, yielded a few half-chances for Mike's young team - Tom Flanagan heading Adam Chicksen's free-kick wide and Daniel Delderfield failing to find the target from another Chicksen cross.

A defensive mix up four minutes after the break allowed Charlton to take the lead before the visitors added two in a minute on 58 and 59.

With the result seemingly beyond them, Powell's shot in anger against the upright served to lift his team-mates, and his namesake Daniel forced a fine save from the Addicks 'keeper after being set up by substitute Troy Farden.

"We didn't have enough leaders on the pitch on Saturday," Mike added. "Charlton closed us down at a high tempo but I asked them not to panic, to absorb the pressure and keep things simple.

"We'll have a look back at the video with the players and ask them from their feedback because it's important that they learn from the game."

Dons (4-1-4-1): Fox; Williams, King (c), Flanagan, Milton; M. Powell; Collins (Newton 72), Dowling (Ajombar 58), D. Powell, Chicksen; Delderfield (Farden 78).

Subs not used: Harrison, Carter.