Aston Villa's Under-21s earned their first win of the 2022/23 Premier League 2 season with a dominant 4-0 victory over Sunderland on Monday night.
Declan Frith scored twice in the first seven minutes, before Brad Young bagged his second and third goals of the season either side of the half-time interval.
The Young Lions raced into a three-goal lead at the break for the second successive game, with Frith showing excellent composure to put his side in a commanding position early on.
He rolled a finish into the bottom corner after being sent clear just three minutes into the contest, before he cut inside and found the same corner of the net again just four minutes later.
Sunderland hit the post as they searched for a route back into the game, before Frith had to be replaced just after the midway point of the half with an injury.
Young got the third two minutes before the end of the first 45 with a clinical finish from just outside the penalty area.
Villa extinguished any chances of a Sunderland comeback early in the second half, with Young heading beyond Harrison Bond to get his second of the night.
The home side had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit as the clock wound down, with Ben Middlemas hitting the crossbar in stoppage time after Oliwier Zych had smartly kept out Caden Kelly to preserve his clean sheet.
Sunderland: Bond, Newall, Wilson (Robinson 74'), Johnson, Jessup, Sohna (Chiabi 65'), Kelly, Trialist, Thompson (Middlemas 85'), Kachosa, Spellman
Subs: Middlemas, Cameron, Robinson, Bainbridge, Chiabi
Aston Villa U21: Zych, Swinkels, Chrisene, Aaron O'Reilly, Revan, Lindley, Teddy Rowe, Raikhy (Ealing 76'), Wright (Afoka 61'), Frith (Hart 26'), Young
Subs: Ealing, Smith, Wright, Afoka, Hart
