Just one day before Manchester City's first-team beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the Premier League, they celebrated success against the Baggies at youth level as they were crowned winners of the inaugural Under-15 Super Floodlit Cup.
After winning the Floodlit Cup North final with a 3-0 success against Aston Villa, a brace from Taylor Richards, as well as goals from Felix Nmecha and Henry Ogunby, sealed a 4-1 triumph at the expense of Southern competition winners West Brom. Finn Azaz had put the Baggies ahead.
"I'm the delighted with the victory," Man City U15 coach John Mullin told mcfc.co.uk after Friday night's win at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium. "I thought it was thoroughly deserved. It was great to see the response from the lads after going behind, so it was great to see their character on a big occasion."
"Going forward, they've got to continue working hard and looking to develop. They've got to keep working hard in training and hopefully they will do well in future tournaments."
The U15 Floodlit Cup was introduced this season, so that young players could adapt to the unique demands and weather conditions of evening matches that senior players face in the Premier League and cup competitions on a regular basis.
It also adds more competition for the U15 age group as they work towards playing in the Under-18 and Under-21 Premier League.
Friday's match marked another success for Man City's academy, who won the U18 Premier League North Group this season and were crowned Under-10 National Futsal champions recently.
""We have talented players. It's about us guiding them in the right direction and educating them on potential professional careers.""
"The recent success of the Academy shows that we're doing things the right way," said Mullin. "We're not only winning games, but playing an attractive brand of football throughout the teams at the City Football Academy.
"We do have some talented players here and it's about us guiding them in the right direction and trying to educate them on potential professional careers in the future."
While the final result was disappointing for West Brom, the trip to Burton's first-team stadium rounded off a fantastic journey for their U15 side, who beat Reading, Arsenal and Chelsea on the way to winning the U15 Floodlit Cup South.
It also came six days after 16-year-old Jonathan Leko made his PL debut for West Brom against Sunderland, while manager Tony Pulis described Albion's academy as the best he has seen throughout his coaching career.
"We started this journey 10 years ago and have slowly had to build," West Brom academy manager Mark Harrison told wba.co.uk. "The chairman has built the infrastructure and there has been a lot of hard work put in.
"We have got some very good youngsters who have the potential to replicate the likes of Saido Berahino and others who have come through our ranks and gone on to play first-team football.
"To see Jonathan Leko make his Premier League debut was a proud moment for us all."
"The competition has been really well received by all of the clubs involved," said Dean Smith, Games Programme Consultant, Premier League. "All of the fixtures in this new competition are played under floodlights to provide a different and unique experience for players.
"Giving the club coaches and players the ability to take part in matches in this environment, which will be new to many of them, and which will evoke heightened stress and pressure, will help ready them for playing evening matches later on in their football career and is a great learning experience for all involved."