Charlton's U18s were condemned to defeat on Saturday afternoon as Sheffield Wednesday secured a 4-2 victory at Sparrows Lane.

Despite goals from Ellis McMillan and Emmanuel Sol-Loza drawing the young Addicks level ahead of the interval, two second-half strikes from the visitors saw the Owls head back to South Yorkshire with the spoils.

It was a dream start to the encounter for Sheffield Wednesday as Caelan-Kole Cadamarteri capitalised on a heavy touch at the back, before shimmying it onto his left foot and firing in from a tight angle after three minutes.

Just after the half-hour, the away side added a second as Cadamarteri bagged his brace. The forward provided the initial flick on for Will Granger to let fly on the volley from 10 yards, forcing a superb save from Jude Sadler, though, fortunately for the visitors, the ball fell for Cadamarteri to convert in from close range. 

Jason Pearce’s side responded well to the setback, netting their first of the encounter just moments later as McMillan wrapped a curling effort over the Owls’ stopper directly from a corner.

The young Addicks were awarded a penalty on the stroke of the half-time whistle as Sol-Loza was wiped out by Logan Stretch as he attempted to latch onto a lofted ball over the defence. The forward stepped up from 12 yards and coolly slotted into the bottom corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. 

Sheffield Wednesday regained the lead on the hour mark through Jack Swales. An initial corner was sent deep towards the back post, allowing Owls skipper Joe Emery to thundere a bullet header goalwards, forcing Sadler into another incredible save - but Swales was there to tap into an empty net.

Three minutes later, the visitors extended their lead to two goals once again, this time through Danny Da Costa. An awkward ball was sent over the top of the young Addicks' defence, allowing Cadamarteri to collect the ball deep into the Charlton half. The forward slipped a pass out wide for the full-back to run on to and he slotted a neat finish across goal and into the bottom corner to seal the win.

Up next for Jason Pearce’s side is a trip to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.

Charlton: Sadler; Muvhuti (Reid 63), Olatunji, Brown, Davis; Wales, Safa (c), McMillan (Belton 75); Tagoe, Sol-Loza, Burnham (Washington-Amoah 79)

Subs (not used): Spencer, Cooley

Goals: McMillan 37, Sol-Loza 43

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