Mason McClelland praises "spirited" second-half performance from Under-18s

Swansea City Under-18s' coach Mason McClelland praised a "spirited" second-half performance from the young Swans as they came from behind to win 5-1 against Birmingham City on Tuesday afternoon.

Tobe Ugorji opened the scoring in the 10th minute for the Blues, his strike sneaking in at the back post to find the bottom corner, despite a positive start to the fixture from the hosts.

But the Swans controlled the second period. Thomas Woodward got them level shortly after the restart, and Billy Clarke's header had them ahead with 10 minutes to go.

Harvey Gray soon added a third, before Woodward rounded off the scoring and his hat-trick with two quickfire goals.

"What we asked for is purpose, and being effective and aggressive. That second half really showed that. We were positive in the first half, but we took it up an extra 20 per cent in the second half," said McClelland.

"We won the ball back quickly and, for me, one of the most pleasing things was that the players maximised what they're good at, and they stuck to their strengths.

"They got into good positions and were effective, and they did that consistently. 

"We scored some great goals from pull-backs and crosses. The players really took on the information at half-time, and applied themselves brilliantly. 

"We wanted to sustain our energy, and we knew the substitutes would bring that. They made a real impact and were all key figures in the goals.

"There was a lot of learning and feedback following the loss to Fleetwood, and they took that on board and I'm really pleased with their spirited attitude to come back in the second-half."