A strong Town side was beaten 2-1 by Arsenal’s U21s in their opening EFL Trophy fixture at Portman Road. Jon Nolan gave the Blues the lead in the 28th minute before one-time Town trialist George Lewis equalised first-half in injury time, then Folarin Balogun grabbed what proved to be the winner in the 54th minute. The Blues huffed and puffed and hit the woodwork twice as they looked for a leveller which never came.
Town made only three changes to the team which beat Bristol Rovers 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on Saturday.
Myles Kenlock replaced Stephen Ward, who was left out of the 18 but was training on the pitch before the match, at left-back with keeper David Cornell, who joined Town after leaving Northampton last month, taking over from Tomas Holy, who dropped to the bench.
Centre-half Toto Nsiala was initially down to start but dropped out at the last minute allowing Corrie Ndaba to make his full debut at centre-half with James Wilson taking his place on the bench.
Striker James Norwood, who played only 45 minutes of football in pre-season as he continued his rehabilitation after his groin operation in February, was among the subs having missed out on Saturday.
Again Flynn Downes was not included in the 18 having been given a few days off following the interest from Crystal Palace and his resultant transfer request, as was Kayden Jackson, who has been suffering with a groin problem and is the subject of a £1 million - not the £2 million initially reported - rebuffed bid from AFC Bournemouth.
Arsenal’s U21s, with U23s head coach Steve Bould on the touchline, included Norwegian-Rwandan winger George Lewis, 20, who had a trial with the Blues before joining the Gunners in the summer.
Their highest profile name in their side was 19-year-old Balogun, who has refused a new contract and is understood to be interesting Brighton. As expected, it was a very young side with an average age of 18 and a half.
Neither Harry Clarke nor Marcelo Flores, who both moved to the Arsenal youth set-up from the Town academy, were involved.
At an again empty Portman Road, with the shouts of the players echoing around the ground, the Blues quickly began to dominate possession against the Arsenal youngsters.
On seven, Jon Nolan flicked a header on for Freddie Sears to chase, however, Arsenal keeper Tom Smith was off his line and out of his area to clear.
Two minutes later, Sears fed Kenlock breaking on the overlap, not for the first time, but his cross was diverted behind by Arsenal skipper Mark McGuinness ahead of Aaron Drinan. From Andre Dozzell's corner, Luke Woolfenden nodded into Smith’s arms.
Town should have been in front in the 16th minute when Sears’s flick sent Drinan away into the area on the left. The Irish U21 international side-footed across the keeper and struck the outside of the post with Sears screaming for the ball to be cut back to him on the edge of the six-yard box.
The Arsenal kids were seeing most of the ball and passing it around neatly as the game reached the 20-minute mark but without Cornell having been tested.
In the 27th minute the Blues took the lead. Ndaba found Sears with an excellent cross-field pass, Dozzell having played a similar ball out to Alan Judge on the other flank moments earlier.
The ex-West Ham man cut in and sent in a cross which reached Judge at the far post from where the Irish international scuffed a shot which was cleared from the six-yard box. However, the danger wasn’t gone and Judge played the ball back in for Nolan, who scrambled home off keeper Smith from a few yards.
Despite conceding, the visitors again began to pass the ball around slickly but still without threatening goal.
On 39 Drinan chased Teddy Bishop's ball down the right but McGuinness slid in to make an important challenge just outside the area with keeper Smith having made a hasty run off his line and potentially in a lot of trouble. At the other end, Ndaba made a similarly impressive tackle albeit when the flag had been raised.
Just before the scheduled end of the half, Balogun hit Arsenal’s first shot of the game from the edge of the box, the ball deflecting wide of Cornell’s goal off a defender. But from the corner, with the period now in injury time, the young Gunners equalised.
The Blues repeatedly failed to clear their lines on the edge of the area and the ball was played to former Town trialist Lewis, who shot low across Cornell and into the corner of the net.
Town left the field at the break disappointed not to have been in front with the goal Arsenal’s only serious chance throughout the half.
Although neat and tidy on the ball, as you’d expect from a Gunners side, they had presented little threat and the Blues will feel the danger should have been cleared.
While Town hadn’t created a huge number of clear-cut opportunities themselves, they had certainly threatened enough to warrant a half-time lead.
The Blues swapped Sears for Gwion Edwards ahead of the second half, presumably to keep Saturday’s two-goal scorer fresh for Sunday’s League One opener at home to Wigan Athletic, while Arsenal brought on Miguel Azeez for Jordan McEneff.
Edwards sent over an early cross from the left which skipper Luke Chambers nodded behind from a tight angle beyond the far post.
Neither side had created another chance before Bishop was switched for Emyr Huws on 53, a minute before the visitors took the lead.
Ben Cottrell played Balogun through on goal to the right and the striker confidently beat the advancing Cornell.
As Town prepared to restart, Drinan was replaced by Norwood making his first appearance of the season.
The sub headed wide for Town on 58, then Salah Oulad M’Hand nutmegged his way past Kenlock on the Arsenal right before shooting over with the Gunners having grown in confidence since their second goal and well on top. On 64 Azeez shot over from distance.
Town started to see more of the ball but on 67 lost possession midway inside the Arsenal half and the visitors broke quickly and it took a couple of last-ditch challenges and a Cornell save from Balogun before the danger was gone.
The Blues went very close to levelling in the 68th minute when Norwood crossed from the left, Chambers sent it back from the right, Huws returned it again and Judge, who had switch flanks with Edwards, stooped to head towards goal only for Smith to brilliantly tip it on to the post and behind.
Within a minute the woodwork was stuck again, Huws hitting a brilliant curling effort from distance which beat the keeper but hit the bar.
Tim Akinola was booked for a foul on Kenlock then, as the game moved towards its final 10 minutes, James Olayinka played in Azeez on the edge of the box but his low shot was too weak to trouble Cornell.
A Town equaliser wasn’t looking particularly likely, despite the Blues seeing a lot of the ball in the Arsenal half.
The Blues should have been on terms in the 85th minute when Nolan was played in on goal by a Norwood flick but keeper Smith advanced quickly and forced his not overly convincing effort at goal.
From the corner, the ball fell to Chambers who hit a powerful strike which was blocked by one of a number of players in the six-yard box. The ball was sent back in by Judge and Ndaba and keeper Smith collided. Before referee Neil Hair stopped play for the head injuries, Norwood had a chance but the opportunity was snuffed out.
After undergoing treatment on the field, Ndaba was helped around the pitch by physio Matt Byard and the club doctor, while Smith was able to continue for the Gunners. With all Town’s subs used, the Blues finished the game with 10 men.
As the match moved into injury time, the Blues went very close to an equaliser. After Arsenal had failed to clear a free-kick from the right, the ball fell to Huws, his effort was blocked, before Norwood’s stab goalwards was cleared off the line.
Deep in injury time, keeper Cornell came up for a free-kick and corner but was unable to help his team-mates to an equaliser.
The final whistle was greeted by cheers from the Arsenal players and staff after staging an impressive turnaround against their more senior opponents.
Town had been the better side in the first half but having grabbed their equaliser and after going ahead in the second period, Arsenal dominated for a long spell with the Blues struggling to get a foothold in the game.
Eventually, as the Arsenal youngsters tired, the Blues created more than enough opportunities to have taken the game to a penalty shoot-out but the Gunners youngsters remained resolute as well as riding their luck on occasion - Town hit the woodwork three times overall - while Town’s finishing was less than clinical on occasion.
A disappointing night, particularly given the strength of the side, putting a dampener on the positive mood following Saturday’s 3-0 home victory over Bristol Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Town will be looking to a repeat of that performance when Wigan Athletic visit Portman Road for the League One opener on Sunday.
Town: Cornell, Chambers (c), Ndaba, Woolfenden, Kenlock, Nolan, Dozzell, Bishop (Huws 53), Judge, Drinan (Norwood 55), Sears (Edwards 46). Unused: Holy, Lankester, Wilson, Hawkins.
Arsenal U21: Smith, Alebiosu, Balogun (Cirjan 73), Bola, Cottrell, Lewis, McEneff (Azeez 46), McGuinness (c), Olayinka, M’Hand (Akinola 65), Oyegoke. Unused: Hillson, Kirk, Ogungbo. Referee: Neil Hair (Cambridgeshire).