Preston North End U19s were beaten 2-1 away to Carlisle United after Max Kilsby scored a last gasp winner to cancel out Teddy Mfuni’s equaliser
Mason Hardy opened the scoring for the home side just past the hour mark with a header into the top corner.
Teddy Mfuni thought he had snatched a point for North End after scoring in the 90th minute but with the last kick of the game Kilsby stole all the points.
North End manager Nick Harrison made three changes from the team that were victorious against Rochdale last weekend. Declyn Duggan, Kian Taylor and Rio Pemberton replaced Oliver Lombard, Noah Mawene and Joe Rodwell-Grant.
Carlisle started the game the better of the two teams. Ryan Carr had two chances to give the home side the lead, the ball dropped to him on the edge of the box, but he fired over on the half volley and just a few minutes later he headed over from a free kick.
Declyn Duggan made his first of many good saves in the game in the 11th minute as he smartly tipped a 30-yard free kick over the bar.
North End’s first chance came 22 minutes into the game. A well worked short corner found its way to Pemberton just inside the box but his effort was fired over.
The best chance of the half came the way of North End. The ball was crossed in from the left and found Taylor at the back post, his shot was tipped onto the inside of the post and then cleared away before it could cross the line.
The Lilywhites really gained a foothold in this half. Finlay Cross-Adair and Mikey O’Neill combined well before O’Neill blasted his shot over the bar. Then a great ball from Finlay Wallbank found Jacob Slater at the back post, he rose highest but his header went wide.
The last chance of the half forced a good save from the Carlisle keeper to deny Wallbank’s cross from going straight into the box.
Carlisle made their first change early in the second half which saw Dan Hill replace DJ Taylor.
Ten minutes into the second half Mfuni picked up the first yellow card of the game after a foul in the corner.
Duggan then produced two good saves in two minutes, first saving from substitute Hill by diving to his left then tipping a long-range effort over the bar.
However the hosts took the lead in the 65th minute through Mason Hardy, as he headed a cross into the top corner 1-0.
After the hosts took the lead North End made their first change which saw Rio Pemberton be replaced by Dana Amaral.
Carlisle were inches away from doubling their lead not long after, a rapid counter attack saw Hardy played through on goal, his shot beat Duggan but Lewis Coulton was able to get back in time to clear it off the line.
Several glorious chances fell the way of North End, but Breeze in the Carlisle net was able to make a sensational triple save to keep the score at 1-0.
Duggan in the North End goal once again made another great save at his near post to keep the score at 1-0.
With just five minutes left of normal time, both teams made one more substitution. For the home side Mason Hardy was replaced by Kai Nugent and for North End Kitt Nelson replaced Kian Taylor.
Substitute Dan Hill picked up the second yellow card of the game in the 89th minute for a foul on Levi Lewis.
In the early moments of added on time North End found the breakthrough and got the equaliser, Mfuni stayed up from a free kick and the ball came back into the box and he was there to tap it home to make it 1-1.
However, heartbreak struck for PNE as in the dying moments of the game Carlisle restored their lead. Max Kilsby was played through on goal down the left-hand side and he kept his composure in front of goal to place it in the top left-hand corner to put the hosts 2-1 up.
Academy manager Nick Harrison was left disappointed with the result but happy with his team’s performance.
Speaking to PNE.com after the game, he said: “I was actually pleased with the team’s performance but overall disappointed with the result and frustrated with the result.
“I just thought we created a number of chances today, I thought their goalkeeper was outstanding, he made some unbelievable saves, but we’ve got to take those chances and we were punished for it today."
This 2-1 defeat marked the end of a three-game winning streak, but after a pleasing performance Harrison wants to see his players continue to develop and learn from their mistakes.
“We made some silly decisions which lead to their second goal so there’s lots of things for the young players to learn especially when they played well and were the better team in terms of how we played and created chances.
"When you’re drawing a game in injury time you’ve got to learn how to not lose it from there but the message to the players will be for them to continue what they are doing and to learn from some of the mistakes which lead to conceding the two goals today.”
PNE Line-Up: Duggan, Wallbank, Lewis, Leigh, Mfuni, Coulton, Taylor (Nelsen 85’), O’Neill, Cross-Adair, Pemberton (Amaral 66’), Slater.
Unused Subs: Pradic, Best, Nevin.