Rovers Under 18s were given a severe beating by their Colchester United counterparts earlier today.

Billy Clark's side were two goals down and one man down by half-time, in a very one-sided Puma Youth Alliance contest.

Joe White was the player given his marching orders for the hosts, sent off for reacting after being struck across the face by an opponent.

After the game Billy admitted his team's display wasn't good enough, and said that major improvements were needed, especially in defence.

"It was very disappointing," Billy told bristolrovers.co.uk, "We started the match ok, but they scored from their first attack out of virtually nothing.

"We looked to get back into the game, but some poor defending from us and it was 2-0 to them, and before we knew it were two goals down and one man down before half-time.

"When it's 2-0 you always know that if you get the next goal then you have a chance, but they scored seven minutes into the second half and it was all over.

"At the end of the game today we looked disillusioned and disheartened, and they ran us a bit ragged.

"Some of the goals we conceded were very poor, and we have to look at ourselves defensively because we weren't good enough today. It's a combination of a lack of concentration and a lack of quality, and it needs to change."

Reported by Ian Cole

MATCH SUMMARY

0-1
0-2
0-3
0-4
0-5

BRISTOL ROVERS: Ashley Wintle, Mitch Smit, Ben Swallow, Bob Massey, Rob Deakin, Rhys Farmer (Dan Cayford 46), Jordan Cooper (Kyle Thomas 51), Jake Rudman, Joe White, George Brimson, Nuno Felix (Deon Noakes 70)

Unused Substitute: Sam Burgess