Your Nottingham Forest headlines around the FA Youth Cup final defeat last night...
Young Reds produce proud performance at Old Trafford
Nottingham Forest Under-18s' incredible FA Youth Cup run came to a crushing end on Wednesday evening as they were beaten 3-1 by Manchester United at Old Trafford, despite a spirited display.
Josh Powell had pulled the Reds level after Sam Murray's free-kick put the Red Devils ahead, but a controversial referee decision that saw United handed a penalty, despite replays clearly showing the ball was outside the area.
Alejandro Garnacho coolly slotted past goalkeeper Aaron Bott, before the forward then wrapped up the win with a bit of individual skill to make it 3-1 in added time.
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Three key players give reason for optimism
Nottingham Forest may have suffered FA Youth Cup heartbreak as they were beaten 3-1 at Old Trafford by Manchester United, but the young Reds showed there was plenty of be optimistic about despite the result.
When United skipper Rhys Bennett headed the hosts in-front, they could have buckled under the pressure and gone on to be beaten heavily. Instead, Warren Joyce's side showed character to fight back and level the scores when Joshua Powell's strike from distance trickled under Radek Vitek's arms in the United goal.
Forest gave a good account of themselves again in the second half. Detlef Esapa-Osong, the provider of so many of Forest Under-18s' goals this season - proved dangerous up-front, as did Dale Taylor and Sam Collins out-wide.
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Forest boss fumes
“Individual errors cost us. We’re disappointed with the second one, because clearly he’s two yards outside of the box, and it was a crucial stage of the game,” said Joyce.
“Mistakes by our players, yes. But it’s not a penalty. In big games like this, it’s hard for the lads to take when they look back on that, at a time when the game could have gone either way. We’d had a couple of good chances at the other end, and were maybe unfortunate not to take the lead.
“It’s a poor mistake from us. You could say it’s a booking, or even a sending off. But it’s definitely not a penalty. In this day and age as well, when there’s all the technology available, I think it’s poor that in a final like this, it can scar lads for a long time.
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