Peterborough United Under 18s were beaten by the league leaders in their latest Professional Development League fixture.
Bolu Shofowoke’s opener was cancelled out by a quick Blades response, before the table-toppers rallied to take all three points thanks to respective strikes from Alfie Hough and Lamine Sidibe which extended their unbeaten start to the new term.
Jimmy Unwin named a heavily rotated side to the one that bowed out of the FA Youth Cup in midweek after Northampton Town held on to progress into round two at the Weston Homes Stadium.
Joe Davies, George Holley and Andre Changunda all made way for Rylie Fitzpatrick, Tom Unwin and Benji McWilliams-Marcano, while Ignas Sakalas and Fabian Claxton came in for Ben Westcott and Lucca Mendonca – with the latter travelling with the first team for their FA Cup clash with Newport County.
Posh were quick out the blocks and fashioned an opportunity on 12 minutes when Noah Freeman and Benji McWilliams-Marcano combined well on the overlap, but Shofowoke was unable to tap home the full-back’s delivery to the far post.
On 16 minutes, SHOFOWOKE handed Posh the lead when the front man latched onto Davon Gbajumo’s ball from deep and slotted home past Alfie Venners.
But three minutes later it was the Blades who answered back, Siem ABRAHA evened the score when he fired past Sakalas on his return to the squad.
Posh struggled to find their rhythm after United’s leveller and Alfie HOUGH's near-post header found the back of the net on half-hour.
The Blades carved out another opportunity moments later after Archie Christie-Cranie clipped a ball to the back post but Sam Colechin was unable to meet the delivery at the back post.
Shofowoke was inches away from getting his second of the game just after the hour mark, but his effort cleared the crossbar.
Sheffield United quickly found their groove and moved forward to extend their lead - Lennon Patterson came close to doubling that advantage, but his shot struck the woodwork.
Posh appeared to have weathered the pressure, but the Blades had the next say in the affair as SIDIBE steered his effort past Sakalas.
Posh will now turn their attention to a trip to South Yorkshire next weekend, with Sheffield Wednesday next up in the Professional Development League for the youngsters (Saturday, 2pm).
Posh: Sakalas, Freeman ©, Claxton, Gilbert (sub Aikins, 75min), Gbajumo (sub Changunda, 46min), Unwin, Fox, Fitzpatrick, Sykut (sub Holley, 66min), McWilliams-Marcano (sub Davies, 60min), Shofowoke. Unused sub: Arber.
Half-Time: Posh Under 18s 1-2 Sheffield United Under 18s
Full Time: Posh Under 18s 1-3 Sheffield United Under 18s