Preston North End U19s tasted a 4-3 defeat in a Lancashire derby at home against Blackpool on Saturday.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 20th minute of a seven-goal thriller but a strike from Tom Wilkinson brought the home side level ten minutes later.
The Seasiders were able to add to their tally twice before the break, while the Lilywhites brought it back level with second-half goals Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile and Jonny Brindle. Blackpool would take the victory, though, through a stoppage-time penalty.
After a superb 3-1 win away in the Youth Alliance Cup final against Portsmouth, North End were looking to bring their winning streak into the league to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Rodriguez-Gentile, who scored in that final, looked to open the scoring for his team but his shot from distance was saved and seen out for a corner.
It was Blackpool who broke the deadlock in the 20th minute through Josh Miles’ low finish which went just past Li-Bau Stowell in goal.
Andy Fensome’s side took only ten minutes to respond to going down. Theo Mawene picked up the ball from midfield and drove into the box, and the shot he let off won a corner, which he took himself and a scramble fell for Wilkinson, who found the back of the net.
The U19s were unable to hold on, with the away side taking back their lead five minutes later, again through Miles.
After Brindle’s long-range strike was saved and Ayden Garrigan’s rebound put wide, Blackpool added to their tally on the stroke of half-time courtesy of an own goal.
As the second half commenced, Brindle was involved yet again, this time clearing off the goal-line to keep his side in the game.
Rodriguez-Gentile was able to get his second goal in as many games in the 70th minute, taking a quality touch off of Brindle’s brilliant cross into the box and then smashing home to make it 3-2.
Jubilation continued for the home side, as only two minutes later Brindle converted from inside the box to equalise.
At that point, it was hoped PNE could kick on, but a penalty was conceded in the 91st minute and Layton Campbell finished it off to win the derby in the third minute of stoppage-time.
Speaking after the game, Andy Fensome shared his thoughts: “I’m quite deflated because we started the game really poorly. We didn’t play well in the first half. We gave the ball away and that ultimately cost us goals.
“When we started the second half, I thought we were excellent after ten minutes, and when we got back to 3-3, we had plenty of chances to win the game ourselves, but we didn’t take the chances and obviously a little bit of naivety at the end cost us the game.”
