Preston North End U18s suffered their second defeat in as many days as they crashed out in the semi finals of the Youth Alliance Cup to Stockport County.
The visitors ran out 4-1 winners, but the score line didn't reflect the game, although Jamie Hoyland will be disappointed with his team's performance and failure not to reach the final.
One positive from the game was a delightful lob from 15 year old striker Matt Dudley, who came off the bench to make a huge impression with 25 minutes of the game remaining.
It was a very shaky opening ten minutes to the game, as both teams were trying to get a foot hold on proceedings.
Scott Davidson, who was playing just behind striker Ryan McGreevy, made an advanced run from midfield after a good flick on by McGreevy, putting the midfielder one on one with the goalkeeper, Davidson shot straight at Ian Ormson, resulting in a very comfortable save for the County goalkeeper.
North End were let off the hook 10 minutes later as Stockport came inches away from taking the lead after the visitors hit the bar. A corner was swung in by Ryan Wilson and dominant centre back Louis Riess climbed above the Lilywhites defence with a powerful header, which looped over Dominic Comrie and smashed against the Preston bar.
Tom Owens, who was in the thick of the action during Saturday's game against Wrexham, was forced off in the 25th minute through injury, seeing the introduction of midfielder Seanan Clucas.
It was Stockport, who took the lead a minute after Owens departure, courtesy of winger Wilson. Preston failed to clear the ball following a County attack, Dougan scuffed his clearance on the edge of the box, which saw the ball headed back towards goal where Wilson found the time and space to pick his spot
Good approach play from Preston saw McGreevy with his back turned on goal, chesting the ball down for the oncoming run of both Davidson and Clucas, but confusion between the pair to who should take the shot allowed defender Sean Williams to nick the ball away from them both.
This was a sign of things to come for the home side, as they were having plenty of possession but struggling to find the cutting edge in the final third.
The closest Preston came from making the score level at half time was a superb 35 yard pass from skipper George Miller, which saw Dougan get behind his marker and cross the ball from the right hand side. The cross was just too far in front for the outstretched Jamie Proctor to latch onto, going out of play for a throw in.
Things went from bad to worse after the interval for PNE as Stockport doubled their lead in the 48th minute. An ambitious shot from Tom Fisher caught Comrie off guard; the Preston keeper could only get a hand to the shot, which put Stockport in complete control of this cup tie.
Comrie made a superb save moments later though, a cross was not cleared from the North End defence dropping at the feet of goal scorer Fisher but this time Comrie came off the winner between the two, making a magnificent point blank save.
Dougan's last contribution to the game before being replaced by Dudley was to swing in a free kick, which Proctor managed to connect with but his header didn't test Ormson.
There was an appearance from first team manager Darren Ferguson to see how the youth team were performing and Ferguson would have been more than impressed with what he saw from substitute Dudley, who produced a moment of class to get Preston back into the game. Sam Hore gave possession away for County deep inside his own half; Dudley collected the loose ball, seeing the keeper off his line audaciously chipped the ball, bringing the applause from the Preston manager.
Preston started to gain momentum believing they could go on to get the equaliser or even win this cup tie. Stockport started to look on edge, giving away careless free kicks in their own half.
Hoyland's player's hopes of a revival were dashed in the 85th minute as Wilson grabbed his second of the game to more than ensure Stockport's place in the final.
The game was sealed in the 90th minute when Stockport grabbed a fourth goal, Comrie's goal kick was uncharacteristically miss-controlled by Miller, and Steven Murty picked up the ball and ran at the Preston defence. Murty evaded the challenge from Daniel Devine and slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner.
Manager Jamie Hoyland wouldn't blame fatigue for his side's defeat. He said: "We were certainly beaten by the better side today, we probably only had four players who were up to standard today so were going to get beat. It's been a long old season but if they're going to be footballers then they are going to be long old seasons and you got to keep going every match you play, that's what I have told them."
PNE: Comrie, Clarke, Hart, Miller (c), Wright, Devine, Owens (Clucas 25), Davidson, McGreevy, Proctor (EL Harrati 83), Dougan (Dudley 65) Subs: McLellan, Leather.
Stockport: Ormson, Disney, Barnes (Baldwin 83), Williams, Barnes, Riess, Wilson, Hore, Murty, Fisher, Rowe (Roberts 83) Subs: Parasi, Whitehead, Dyson.
Report by Jonathon Swift.
