Saints fielded young academy sides on Saturday as some of the scholars played on trial for other clubs around the country.

The under-19s travelled to face Bristol City at Clifton College, and lost 2-0 in a highly controversial match.

Saints started slowly but settled after 15 minutes and began to dominate the game.

JP Mills thought he had given Saints the lead in first-half stoppage time after turning in Arron Davies's cross from close range. But to the amazement of both sides, the referee had blown for half-time as the ball left Mills' foot.

The decision put Saints on the back foot and Bristol City took advantage of some poor defending to take the lead early in the second half.

Soon after, Saints were on the wrong end of another bizarre decision. They thought they had earned the chance to level the game from the penalty spot after Brian Howard was clearly fouled in the area. But with both sides expecting a spot-kick to be awarded, the referee surprised everyone by turning down Saints' appeals and waving play on.

Buoyed by their extreme good fortune, the home side doubled their lead and to add insult to injury the referee then awarded a series of goal-kicks to Saints, when it was clear to both sides that Bristol should have won corners instead!

The under-17s went down 1-0 in Birmingham, in the second of their play-off matches, a result that sees Saints lose their chance to make it through to the final stages.

Birmingham won the game with a penalty against a Saints side that fielded eight schoolboys in the starting line-up.