Town's U18s made the worst possible start to their new league season on Saturday when they were thrashed 6-1 by Nottingham Forest at Playford Road.
The visitors were dominant for large spells of the game and strikes from Jayden Richardson early on, Will Swan just after the half hour and Luke McCormack a few minutes before half-time gave Forest a three-goal lead at the break.
Schoolboy striker Zak Brown twice came close to pulling one back for Town shortly after the restart but the Reds added a fourth just before the hour when Chez Charlesworth netted.
Five minutes later Yassine Euneyah capitalised on some more sloppy play at the back from the Blues and added a fifth, and then four minutes later Swan grabbed his second when he reacted quickest in the box following a good save from Toby Egan.
Alan Lee's younger than usual side did score a consolation goal in the final minute when Henry Barley teed up Jack Lankester (pictured), and the striker's low shot found the net via the far post.
Among those unavailable for the Blues was full-back Dylan Crowe, who is currently away with the England U17s at a tournament at St George’s Park and was a sub during yesterday’s 3-2 victory over Turkey.
Town’s U16s beat the same opposition 6-1 in their season's opening fixture, also at Playford Road.
U18s: Egan, Ronan, Barley, Ogumekan, Marshall, Vega (Ndaba 62), Dobra, McGavin, Brown, Lankester, Hughes (Cahill 70). Unused: McCarthy, Clements, Henry.